This editorial appeared in The Lexington Herald-Leader.
A group called Republicans for Environmental Protection – motto: "conservation is conservative'' – has a long list of quotations on its Web site (www.rep.org) from famous conservatives.
Everyone knows that Teddy Roosevelt carried a green stick. It's easier to forget that Richard Nixon espoused beliefs that could flow trippingly off Al Gore's tongue, such as " ... clean air is not free, and neither is clean water. The price tag on pollution control is high. Through our years of past carelessness we incurred a debt to nature, and now that debt is being called."
Same for Barry Goldwater: "While I am a great believer in the free enterprise system and all that it entails, I am an even stronger believer in the right of our people to live in a clean and pollution-free environment."
There are no quotes from Kentucky's most powerful Republican, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
But McConnell is cited – for having one of the worst environmental records among Senate Republicans in 2008.
McConnell's score of 29 out of 100 put him in a tie for worst with three of his colleagues.
McConnell was singled out for his efforts to expand drilling on public lands and subsidize liquid coal, as well as for blocking legislation to curb global warming and turning the climate debate into "a partisan circus."
To read the complete editorial, visit The Lexington Herald-Leader.
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