To the editor:

Well here’s a surprise: The Brown County Democratic Party announced in this very paper their platform statement that they will dissolve the Brown County Regional Sewer District. I thought that Dems prided themselves that they were “green.” I guess that only includes hugging trees and supporting only those things they think are popular.

When it comes to the hard, dirty, even smelly work of treating wastewater, recycling, managing solid waste, responsible agriculture, and real energy conservation, it is usually Republicans doing the meaningful work. I looked it up.

The Republican concern on a national level started in earnest with Abe Lincoln. He established protections for Yosemite Valley and protected the giant sequoias. President Lincoln formed the USDA in 1862 and the National Academy of Sciences in 1863.

President Teddy Roosevelt formed the U.S. Forest Service and created the National Wildlife Refuge Service. President Roosevelt signed the 1906 Antiquities Act and has long been considered the Father of Conservation.

But the president most misunderstood for his environmental leadership was President Richard Nixon. President Nixon create the cabinet-level Council on Environmental Quality in 1970 and signed into law the National Environmental Policy Act. He then established the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But President Nixon was just beginning. He signed three more major environmental laws in 1970. In 1972, President Nixon signed five more major environmental laws into existence. Before leaving office in 1974, President Nixon also signed the Endangered Species Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The list goes on for environmental stewardship by Republican presidents. But the point for Brown County: Look around and notice who it is that is really working hard for our environment and our public health interests.

Vote Republican to keep the Brown County Regional Sewer District working to help keep our lands and our waters clean.

Cheers,

Robyn Rosenberg, Brown County