GOP Treads Lightly in Great Outdoors

As a backpacker, Sierra Club member and general environmental enthusiast, Republican congressional candidate Richard Sybert insists that he is not running against the tide of party sentiment.

It’s the Republicans already in Congress who push for logging of Alaskan rain forests or development of Utah’s red rock wilderness who are out of touch with the voters, says Sybert, one of three Republicans running in the 24th District, which encompasses Malibu and the western San Fernando Valley.

Making the same point, Howard Whitaker, a Sacramento developer and member of the newly formed Republicans for Environmental Protection, says he will not vote for Republican candidates who want to weaken the Endangered Species Act or the Clean Water Act.

“I have often told Republican congressional members,” he said, “that the actions they have been taking lately are driving people like me out of the party.”

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In recent months, the sentiments of people like Sybert and Whitaker have been showing up frequently in public opinion polls. The surveys indicate that a majority of voters, including Republicans, are unhappy with the party’s efforts in Congress to change laws protecting air, water, land and endangered species.

“I think you’ll see Republicans of all stripes backing away from the extremist rhetoric you heard so much of last year,” said Douglas P. Wheeler, California’s resources secretary and a Republican.

Perhaps taking that advice, the GOP presidential candidates in California this week have avoided talking much about their positions on environmental questions. But both Sen. Bob Dole and Patrick J. Buchanan have taken positions on key issues over the years. In most cases, their stands are in sharp contrast to those of President Clinton.

Dole, as Senate majority leader, is a sponsor of two of the most sweeping deregulatory bills in Congress. One would give industries broad latitude to challenge federal regulations dealing with air, water and toxic materials. The other bill would require the federal government to pay compensation to property owners who are forced to scale back development of their land in order to protect trees, wildlife or fragile habitat.

Clinton has vowed to veto both bills, which are still pending in Congress.

Dole has also expressed support for pending legislation that would narrow the scope of the Endangered Species Act. And in 1994, he and other Republicans unsuccessfully sought to thwart passage of the California Desert Protection Act, which created the Mojave National Preserve.

In one gesture to environmentalists just before the Florida primary, Dole came out in favor of a $200-million federal project to restore the Everglades. The Clinton administration says the restoration will require more money than that.

Dole’s record on environmental issues is likely to find favor with California conservatives who have been working hard to scale back some of the state’s costliest regulations.

Dole will appeal to “people who are tired of environmental extremism but don’t want to roll back the clock on fundamental protections of clean air and water,” said Fred Merksamer, a consultant to GOP candidates who served as chief of staff to former Gov. George Deukmejian.

Buchanan has been more outspoken than Dole. He says many current regulations are “out of control.” He has called for the federal government to relinquish control over public lands to the states. And he thinks that Congress, rather than the administration, should have the authority to decide which species are endangered.

“I would go back and require the Congress of the U.S. to vote on every single endangered species,” he said in a recent interview with The Times. “At least they would be held responsible and accountable when they put the Furbish lousewort on there and shut down something because of a weed, or they put the Stephens kangaroo rat on there.

“You need to have balance here,” Buchanan said. “I’m all for the polar bear, the grizzly, the mountain lion and the timber wolf, but this is just idiocy.”

Dole and Buchanan are campaigning in a state that enacted many of the toughest environmental laws in the nation. But to win here the candidates must also appeal to primary voters who tend to be their party’s most conservative.

At the same time, their campaigns look to contributions from businesses that have lobbied on behalf of deregulatory legislation in Congress.

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While many congressional Republicans have sought to limit the budget and powers of the Environmental Protection Agency and to reduce the scope of air- and water-pollution laws, Democrats have made hay with the overall GOP record on the environment.

In January, environmentalists contributed heavily to Democrat Ron Wyden’s narrow victory over Republican Gordon Smith for the open Senate seat in Oregon. Many environmental activists saw that race as a bellwether.

As Clinton campaigns for reelection, he is telling voters that Republicans have “mounted the most aggressive antienvironmental campaign in our history.” In an election year when candidates of both parties are playing on public mistrust of big business, Clinton blames the Republican antienvironmental agenda on an alliance between the party and corporate lobbyists.

While Clinton’s own positions on environmental issues have often been criticized by environmentalists as half-measures, he has taken action on several issues important to California environmentalists. For example, Clinton vetoed legislation that would have wiped out National Park Service funding for the Mojave preserve. The administration’s efforts to preserve ancient trees and endangered owls have also curtailed logging in national forests in California.

Republicans agree that their party’s presidential candidate will have to respond both to the president’s record and to his rhetoric. But they don’t agree on what the response ought to be.

Indeed, no single strategy is likely to please all Republicans in California. The state’s reputation for environmental protection notwithstanding, public opinion is deeply divided.

Traditionally, coastal communities have been bastions of environmental support, while the inland valleys and mountains have bred hostility to laws that imposed regulations on loggers, farmers and developers.

In years past, the vote-rich coastal cities tended to ensure the election of environmentally minded politicians. But the interior has been growing faster than any other part of the state. And while most of the newcomers aren’t farmers, many are entrepreneurs opposed to laws that impose costs on businesses or limits on development.

Among Republican analysts, some believe that the party must make substantive changes to broaden its appeal on environmental issues.

“If I were Dole, I would come up with some good environmental legislation in the next couple of months,” said John Petrocik, a UCLA political scientist and sometime consultant to GOP campaigns.

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By contrast, while Republican pollster Linda DiVall has conducted surveys that indicate broad public dissatisfaction with Republican attacks on environmental policy, she argues that all the party really needs to do is explain its positions better.

“We suffer from a problem of perception, which the Democrats are exploiting,” DiVall said. “Our challenge is to persuade voters we are only trying to ease the burden of unnecessary regulations while keeping bedrock protections in place.”

Finally, some party strategists believe that the best approach is avoidance. “Those things are on the radar screen but they are not front and center,” Merksamer said, referring to environmental issues. “I don’t think voters will want to hear a great deal on the subject.”

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California Concerns

One in a series examining the positions of President Clinton, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and commentator Patrick J. Buchanan on issues of importance to California.

ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS

Dole

Has expressed support for pending legislation that would narrow the scope of the Endangered Species Act and tried to block passage of the California Desert Protection Act.

Buchanan

Has called for the federal government to relinquish control over public lands to the states and thinks Congress, not the administration, should have the authority to decide which species are endangered.

Clinton

Has vetoed legislation that would have wiped out National Park Service funding for the Mojave Desert. Efforts by his administration have curtailed logging in national forests in California.