Why is it that so many conservatives are no longer interested in conserving natural resources?

[Mustang]

Conservation.

It is (or at least it used to be) a concept that conservatives embraced. In fact, Teddy Roosevelt was on the vanguard of the conservation movement through the establishment of our national parks. Now, conservatives routinely deride the setting aside of public lands for preservation.

In fact, very often today I hear conservatives mock the concept of conservation. As an example of that, it's not uncommon for some conservatives to come on this board on Earth Day and proudly proclaim that they fully intend on turning on every light in their homes with the intention of leaving them on all night.

What happened to the conservative movement to make them abandon one of their core beliefs and instead embrace waste up to and including the destruction of our natural environment?

 

[Pogo]

Good question indeed. Conservation is by its very definition conservative.

Conservatism was born out of loss, out of the destruction of ancient modes of living by modernity. Its beginnings were in the early modern period, typified by Montaigne, and it reached its fullest articulation in response to the French Revolution. Conservatism recognizes that change brings destruction so it seeks to prevent change; however, it differs from reactionary ideology in that conservatism recognizes that history is dynamic, and that therefore change is unavoidable. As a result, conservatism seeks to implement change gradually.

The spate of current environmental crises could serve as the vehicle for a conservative renaissance. There can be no authentic conservatism that does not seek to conserve the environment. In order to minimize the destructive change that conservatives rightly fear, they must look to combat the potentially unprecedented effects of the environmental change. This is why Rick Perry’s desire for further oil exploration, echoed by fellow Republicans, is deeply unconservative, for it is rooted in a desire to maximize economic exploitation of the physical environment. For similar reasons, the desire of Ted Cruz to gut the EPA and dramatically expand production at every potential gas and oil site is deeply disconnected from the essence of conservatism.

--- Conservatism and Conservation​

 

[SwimExpert]

Conservation.

It is (or at least it used to be) a concept that conservatives embraced. In fact, Teddy Roosevelt was on the vanguard of the conservation movement through the establishment of our national parks. Now, conservatives routinely setting aside public lands for preservation.

In fact, very often today I hear conservatives mock the concept of conservation. As an example of that, it's not uncommon for some conservatives to come on this board on Earth Day and proudly proclaim that they fully intend on turning on every light in their homes with the intention of leaving them on all night.

What happened to the conservative movement to make them abandon one of their core beliefs and instead embrace waste up to and including the destruction of our natural environment?

Teddy Roosevelt wasn't a conservative, he was a progressive.

 

[toxicmedia]

For the purposes of political discussion...

Fiscal Conservatism seeks a smaller government

Social Conservatism seeks to preserve traditional values

I'm not sure political Conservatism or Liberalism applies to environmental conservation.

At any rate...Republicans want everyone to believe we pose no threat to our environment for many reasons

Democrats want everyone to believe Republicans don't care if we destroy the environment, and they do that for electioneering purposes.

 

[Nyvin]

Because "conservatives" are very rarely true conservatives (there are a few out there, but a small minority).

Almost always what "conservatives" or Republicans actually represent are religious Christian groups or the money interests of big businesses, even if they aren't aware of it.

In some cases, particularly in the south, people are Republican solely due to racial issues. That's stone cold truth.

 

[hipeter924]

A lot of Republican Presidents have been interested in protecting and preserving National Parks, so it isn't strictly true that all Republicans are anti-conservation, and there are plenty of wealthy donors.

 

[Pogo]

A lot of Republican Presidents have been interested in protecting and preserving National Parks, so it isn't strictly true that all Republicans are anti-conservation, and there are plenty of wealthy donors.

Ah but he didn't say "Republicans" -- he said "conservatives".

 

[toxicmedia]

A lot of Republican Presidents have been interested in protecting and preserving National Parks, so it isn't strictly true that all Republicans are anti-conservation, and there are plenty of wealthy donors.

Ah but he didn't say "Republicans" -- he said "conservatives".

Every Republican alive calls themselves conservatives.

There was a time when the Democratic, and Republican Parties, both had conservative, moderate, and liberal elements.

In my lifetime, as a matter of fact, but then I just turned 51

 

[hipeter924]

A lot of Republican Presidents have been interested in protecting and preserving National Parks, so it isn't strictly true that all Republicans are anti-conservation, and there are plenty of wealthy donors.

Ah but he didn't say "Republicans" -- he said "conservatives".

If you are making that distinction, then mainstream conservatives love fracking, oil wells, and the oil spills they create. India and China are testament to the 'free market vision', lots of expendable serfs there to exploit, and the rivers? Who cares.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Conservation.

It is (or at least it used to be) a concept that conservatives embraced. In fact, Teddy Roosevelt was on the vanguard of the conservation movement through the establishment of our national parks. Now, conservatives routinely setting aside public lands for preservation.

In fact, very often today I hear conservatives mock the concept of conservation. As an example of that, it's not uncommon for some conservatives to come on this board on Earth Day and proudly proclaim that they fully intend on turning on every light in their homes with the intention of leaving them on all night.

What happened to the conservative movement to make them abandon one of their core beliefs and instead embrace waste up to and including the destruction of our natural environment?

In fact, very often today I hear conservatives mock the concept of conservation.

Probably a backlash against decades of smug liberals putting nature ahead of people.

 

[Staidhup]

So just how many parks do you visualize we need? At what point is it wasteful and financially irresponsible to prohibit utilizing renewable resources for the benefit of the people?

 

[Pogo]

A lot of Republican Presidents have been interested in protecting and preserving National Parks, so it isn't strictly true that all Republicans are anti-conservation, and there are plenty of wealthy donors.

Ah but he didn't say "Republicans" -- he said "conservatives".

Every Republican alive calls themselves conservatives.

There was a time when the Democratic, and Republican Parties, both had conservative, moderate, and liberal elements.

In my lifetime, as a matter of fact, but then I just turned 51

And happy birthday, but they still do.
There's a huge difference between political philosophies and political parties. Only the former serves an ideology.

 

[Dot Com]

Contemporary conservatives think that capitalism is a form of gov't and therefore if something doesn't turn a profit then it has to be plowed under. Funny coming from them since vietraq cost this great nation dearly & they were cheering it on the whole time to this day.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

A lot of Republican Presidents have been interested in protecting and preserving National Parks, so it isn't strictly true that all Republicans are anti-conservation, and there are plenty of wealthy donors.

Ah but he didn't say "Republicans" -- he said "conservatives".

If you are making that distinction, then mainstream conservatives love fracking, oil wells, and the oil spills they create. India and China are testament to the 'free market vision', lots of expendable serfs there to exploit, and the rivers? Who cares.

India and China are testament to the 'free market vision', lots of expendable serfs there to exploit, and the rivers? Who cares.

As opposed to the Eastern Bloc which was testament to the "Communist vision", just as dirty, without the pesky economic growth.

 

[whitehall]

Conservatives and the NRA were the first organizations who cared about the environment. When they used to call them "conservationists", American conservative sportsmen were campaigning to preserve the streams and the outdoors before smarmy pot heads decided that American decadence was the cause of worldwide social ills.

 

[hipeter924]

A lot of Republican Presidents have been interested in protecting and preserving National Parks, so it isn't strictly true that all Republicans are anti-conservation, and there are plenty of wealthy donors.

Ah but he didn't say "Republicans" -- he said "conservatives".

If you are making that distinction, then mainstream conservatives love fracking, oil wells, and the oil spills they create. India and China are testament to the 'free market vision', lots of expendable serfs there to exploit, and the rivers? Who cares.

India and China are testament to the 'free market vision', lots of expendable serfs there to exploit, and the rivers? Who cares.

As opposed to the Eastern Bloc which was testament to the "Communist vision", just as dirty, without the pesky economic growth.

You don't need a nuclear disaster to kill, all you need is the oil and gas industry, and government complicity:

 

[NYcarbineer]

Conservation.

It is (or at least it used to be) a concept that conservatives embraced. In fact, Teddy Roosevelt was on the vanguard of the conservation movement through the establishment of our national parks. Now, conservatives routinely setting aside public lands for preservation.

In fact, very often today I hear conservatives mock the concept of conservation. As an example of that, it's not uncommon for some conservatives to come on this board on Earth Day and proudly proclaim that they fully intend on turning on every light in their homes with the intention of leaving them on all night.

What happened to the conservative movement to make them abandon one of their core beliefs and instead embrace waste up to and including the destruction of our natural environment?

The coming End of Days makes a clean planet moot.

 

[flacaltenn]

Who is mocking the concept of Conservation? Is this one of those -- I'm absolved from sin because I'm a Liberal threads?

 

[Nyvin]

Conservatives and the NRA were the first organizations who cared about the environment. When they used to call them "conservationists", American conservative sportsmen were campaigning to preserve the streams and the outdoors before smarmy pot heads decided that American decadence was the cause of worldwide social ills.

The NRA actually has a loooong history of opposing protection for any endangered species and pushes to open pretty much any wilderness to hunting.

In fact one of the ways Big Oil and the NRA work together is to remove federal regulations on land use....Big Oil gets to drill and the NRA gets to shoot animals, win win.

 

[flacaltenn]

So just how many parks do you visualize we need? At what point is it wasteful and financially irresponsible to prohibit utilizing renewable resources for the benefit of the people?

Heck, not many object to more parks and more set-asides for nature corridors. What FISCAL conservatives and small Govt folks object to is the Feds CLOSING land to public use as an excuse to not have to manage it. No access kind of closed. No cattle kind of closed.

That is until a big corporate interest wants to plop down a ginormous Solar Death Ray machine in the middle of a major migration flyway..