Dear Bertina,
You wrote last week,
>>
>What is this facination with environmental concerns and ones political
>affilitation?
My question was not intended to get at how environmental concerns relate to
political party affiliation, but at how environmental concerns relate to
one's own social/political acts, as well as one's perception of what acts
the government should take.
>
>Does it matter in the long run?
I would have to say yes, it does matter very much in the long run: clearly
the actions vis-a-vis the environment that are advocated by one political
party are not the same actions that are advocated by the other party. So
we have to at least consider the environmental component of a political
platform.
>
>Can one be a conservative republican and still be interested in
>preserving the ecosystem and all natural living things?
Sure you can be a conservative republican and be interested in preserving
the ecosystem. I'm not sure you can agree with the agenda of many of the
leading republican figures and be interested in preserving the environment.
But political philosophy and endorsement of specific politicians are
conceptually separable.
>
>
>How connected does one have to be to be interested and care about the
>environmental aspect of this world?
Do you mean, how connected to political issues? I wouldn't want to answer
that question for you. The way I answer it for myself, though, is that if
I care about the natural environment, since I recognize major limitations
in what I can do as an individual, I have to turn to broader social
organizations (i.e., the government) to take care of the ecosystem. Thus
it would be irresponsible for me not to attend to and (at least in some
small way) try to influence the way in which they do so.
>
>
Thanks for your response.
Susan Clayton
