Letter: Republicans take the ‘conserve’ out of ‘conservative’
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the word “conserve” means to protect (something, especially an environmentally or culturally important place or thing) from harm or destruction.
Why is it that the Republican Party, which claims to be the conservative party, totally ignore the word “conserve” in the description of their values?
Why, when faced with even the remote possibility that our planet is facing global warming, accelerated by mankind’s burning of fossil fuels, do Republicans not take a conservative path and look into ways to produce cleaner energy?
Why, when we know for a fact that oil and natural gas are non-renewable resources, do Republicans adopt the mantra “Drill, baby, drill” instead of seeking ways to reduce our need for oil and gas?
Why do our politicians, who campaigned saying “I’m here to represent the people in my state or district” always seem to ignore the will of the people and instead represent only those who contributed the most money to their bid for office?
In light of the definition of the word “conserve” and the fact that Governor Nikki Haley, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, and U.S. Rep. Tom Rice all support harming an environmentally and culturally important place (the Atlantic Ocean and South Carolina’s beaches and coastline) by supporting offshore seismic testing and drilling for gas and oil, I must conclude that they are not really conservative at all, but simply out to further their own political careers at the expense of the people they are supposed to represent.
Keep this in mind the next time you exercise your right to vote.
The writer lives in North Litchfield Beach
This story was originally published August 23, 2015 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Letter: Republicans take the ‘conserve’ out of ‘conservative’."