America is at a crossroads. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults now say that protecting the environment should be a top priority for the president and Congress, marking the first time in recent history in which environmental protection rivals the economy among the public’s top policy priorities. Devastating wildfires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters have the public asking if there’s more we can do to be stewards of our resources and environment. At the start of the 117th Congress, we have an opportunity to tackle these issues.

So, how do we do that? As Republicans, we know we must build on our party’s long history of environmental conservation. Since the time of President Theodore Roosevelt, “the conservation president,” our party has established the Environmental Protection Agency and created bedrock environmental policies such as the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act, with the vision of conserving the environment while still allowing rural communities to thrive.