Book Excerpt: Losing the Green Light

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As I emerged from the Oval Office into the narrow hallway just outside it, I ran into Vice President Cheney. He was in his overcoat and was clearly in a hurry. He muttered a brief hello to me as he asked an aide who had come up behind me, "Do you have it?" The aide handed him a letter, which he tucked into his pocket as he rushed out. As I would soon discover, the letter was the President's answer to the appeal sent by Senator Hagel and his three colleagues the week before. In his reply, the President restated his opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, and then added, "I do not believe ... that the government should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon dioxide, which is not a pollutant under the Clean Air Act." By stating that carbon dioxide was not a pollutant, he had issued a stronger repudiation of his campaign position than Hagel and his allies had expected.

There is no doubt that compromise on the environment is perhaps more difficult today than at any time in the past 35 years. Yet I believe that the party that succeeds in truly presenting a sensible, moderate position on the environment stands to reap significant policy gains and political rewards. The Republican Party has the heritage and the record over the past four decades to make it the logical party to do so. What remains unclear is whether it has the vision and the will to move away from the extreme anti-environmentalist posture it has assumed in an effort to solidify its "base." It's a challenge the moderates must address. To cede the battle for environmental protection to the anti-regulatory lobbyists and extreme anti-government ideologues is to ignore our obligation as stewards of the environment for ourselves, our children and grandchildren. ???