Schaefer will fight to protect environment
To the Times: As a lifelong Republican, and someone who has traditionally voted the party line, I find myself in a difficult position with this election. On a national level, I am extremely disheartened by what’s become of my party, and wonder what remains of the Republican Party from the fallout over Donald Trump. On the local level, I have become increasingly aware of the priority given to special interests and developers and the minimal focus on the environment. For that reason, and for the first time in my life, I plan to vote for a Democrat: Elaine Paul Schaefer, who’s running in the 165th District for Bill Adolph’s seat. I have met with both Elaine and her opponent, Alex Charlton. Mr. Charlton is a genuinely nice man, but unfortunately seems to follow the party line on some of the issues that are most important to me.
Like so many of us, I never paid much attention to environmental issues. I trusted that our elected officials and government agencies were working to preserve our environment for future generations. Events in Delaware County over the past year have opened my eyes, and made me aware that environmental issues are largely ignored by our current elected officials. They say that Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican and father of our national park system, was a visionary. He fought back against entrenched, selfish interests in his own party. Roosevelt understood that we shouldn’t destroy the environment, but be stewards of the very thing that supports our existence on this planet. I wonder what Teddy would think about the modern Republican Party.
Over the past year, I have seen Republican legislators put their own interests above those of their constituents. They proposed the privatization of our state parks, upheld the interests of polluters, blocked the EPA’s clean power plan, voted against a fair tax on frackers, and stood up for huge development corporations who are gobbling up our precious parcels of remaining open space. It is clear that our elected Republican officials are unwilling to work to save the Don Guanella forest, the last green space of its kind in eastern Delco. Our elected Republican county officials refuse to put a question on the ballot giving voters a choice to support open space in the county. This is a very important election, and I am seeking leadership and honesty. I want a candidate with a record that reflects an awareness of the importance of conservation and preservation of our natural resources, and the very real threat of global warming and climate change. I have reviewed the recent environmental scorecard from Pennsylvania Sierra, Clean Water Action, PennEnvironment, and Conservation Voters and am appalled at the ratings of the politicians that I elected, and afraid that it will be just more of the same going forward. Although suspicious by nature, I am particularly alarmed when I see that Alex Charlton has accepted donations from Claude DeBotton and Frank McKee, two of the biggest developers in Delaware County.
The residents of Delaware County are in desperate need of a real conservation-minded official, not someone who participates in rhetoric. Alex Charlton, who is the chief of staff for state Sen. Tom McGarrigle, R-26 of Springfield, called a press conference to ask the archdiocese to donate the land to the township. That is lip service, and is not the kind of leadership that accomplishes results. I have come to realize that Elaine Schaefer is the “real deal” and will be a great legislator. I have met with her on many occasions and believe that she is not part of the machine. She has worked tirelessly for conservation in our county for many years, and volunteered her expertise to help us at Save Marple Greenspace. She co-founded the Radnor Conservancy, oversaw the preservation of a huge swath of the Ardrossan Estate as a Radnor commissioner, served on an Environmental Advisory Committee as well as a Conservation District committee, and would bring her pro-environmental values to the state Legislature. Although I am speaking only for myself and not as an officer of Save Marple Greenspace, the record shows that Elaine will help us in every imaginable way to protect the Don Guanella forest.
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