Let’s be honest: For a lot of conservatives, Earth Week isn’t a rallying moment. Most conservatives feel alienated from, and at times demonized by, the environmental movement, which, to many religious believers, often seems hostile to their faith.
But here is something most people don’t know: the origins of Earth Day have a deeply faithful, profoundly conservative history. The very first governmentally recognized Earth Day in 1970 was actually championed by John McConnell Jr., a devout Pentecostal Christian whose grandfather was at the historic Azusa Street Revival. McConnell didn’t see Earth Day as a political stunt. He built it on a foundational, spiritual reality: that humanity has a biblical, non-negotiable responsibility to care for God’s creation and protect the vulnerable.
Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Walter J. Hickel, who was shaped and guided by his Roman Catholic faith, put the politics of that era in these terms, “What America wants returned to us is a sense of care, a sense of ownership. We want renewed assurance that we have some control over our physical assets and our spiritual destiny.“ He saw environmental efforts that embraced popular, bipartisan considerations as the mark of a government truly responding to the needs and wants of the American people.
We lived the tension of trying to reclaim that mandate over the last few years while filming the documentary “The [Conserv]atives.” We saw firsthand how political tribalism can grind a good movement down. We watched many conservatives get burned out trying to persuade the party, but we are still here.
And honestly? We are incredibly hopeful. Because our drive doesn’t come from the latest polling or political rhetoric. It comes directly from scripture and our rooted sense of vocation.
So when we talk about protecting the earth, we aren’t just arguing over abstract carbon models. We are talking about the right to life. We are talking about godly and innovative stewardship of the land. We are talking about the planet’s ability to bring forth solutions for the next generation.
Right now, extreme swings in weather and toxins are directly threatening human life, and that threat starts in the womb. Pregnant mothers exposed to high levels of carbon-sourced particulate matter and early-season heat waves face significantly higher risks of premature birth and severe complications. For recently born infants with tiny, developing lungs, extreme heat and exposure to toxins are a significant threat.
Because we are pro-life and pro-family, we can’t look away from the impact of pollution on the unborn and recently born. It is a moral and biblical mandate to honor our Creator. And the good news is, we don’t have to wait on Washington to get to work.
We can drive this through proactive, local solutions, and they are already taking root. Out in the fields of southwest Iowa, farming is a “pertineer” business. We live and die by tight margins and the shifting extremes of the weather. We can’t afford to play semantic games about climate when drought and floods are testing our livelihoods. Instead, we adapt, guided by that same scriptural teaching to steward the land.
Earlier this month, the world watched the Artemis II moon mission push the boundaries of aerospace, sending astronauts further into space than ever before. That’s pure, forward-looking innovation. Well, we are driving that exact same spirit of innovation right here in the dirt.
You don’t need heavy-handed federal mandates to figure this out; you just need to care for what you’ve been blessed with. Out in the heartland, we don’t use trendy buzzwords. We just call it smart agriculture. Let me be clear: This is not about returning to how we farmed a hundred years ago. We all know the history of the Dust Bowl and the devastating soil erosion that came with it. Instead, this is about using the absolute latest technologies to do better.
We pair cutting-edge precision technology with proven practices. We plant a 10-way mix of cover crops to keep the soil spongy enough to absorb massive, extreme rainfall. We partner with our neighbors, letting their cattle graze our fields to get free, natural fertilizer while saving them thousands of dollars in hay. We’re proving every day that you can grow more, use fewer resources, and build a stronger local economy all at once. Out here, farmers learn from other farmers. When we work together, everybody benefits.
True conservatism has always been anchored in conservation. It means taking responsibility for your community, protecting your family, and leaving the land better than you found it.
We don’t need to agree on every single piece of legislation to see that our current trajectory demands access to the next generation of innovation. Whether it’s a local church opening its doors as a cooling center, deploying cleaner energy for local emergencies, or a farmer deploying new tech to save their topsoil from wind, floods, and drought, the best solutions are local. They take courage. They drive real economic innovation. Above all, they rely on the simple, scriptural truth that we have to work with all kinds of people to steward this incredible gift of creation.
This Earth Week, let’s look to the future with the ambition of the Artemis crew, but keep our boots firmly planted in the soil. There is a practical, faith-driven, conservative path forward. If we have the courage to take it, and the wisdom to remember our faithful roots, there is boundless hope for our home.
Ray Gaesser is a corn, soybean and rye grass farmer from Corning. He is on the boards of Solutions from the Land and the Iowa Conservative Energy Forum. He is a past president of the American Soybean Association. The Rev. Jessica Moerman is a climate and environmental scientist, church planter, educator, and advocate. She serves as the president and CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: The conservative, faith-driven path to hope for our planet | Opinion
Reporting by Ray Gaesser and Jessica Moerman, Guest columnists / Des Moines Register
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