Green Conservatism was apparently termed by former Speaker Newt Gingrich in April 2007,.[1]
So what is Green Conservatism? Here are its basic values
- Green Conservatism favors clean air and clean water.
- Green Conservatism understands biodiversity as a positive good.
- Green Conservatism favors minimizing carbon loading in the atmosphere as a positive public value.
- Green Conservatism is pro-science, pro-technology and pro-innovation.
- Green Conservatism believes that green prosperity and green development are integral to the successful future of the human race.
- Green Conservatism believes that economic growth and environmental health are compatible in both the developed and developing world.
- Green Conservatism believes that we can realize more positive environmental outcomes faster by shifting tax code incentives and shifting market behavior than is possible from litigation and regulation.[2]
The need for a Green Conservatism is based on the need for conservatives to take part in the environmental debate instead of being marginalized to the point that the Left defines what environmentalism means.