The Greening of Theodore Roosevelt

Historian Douglas Brinkley isn’t one to place a historical figure into a contemporary context. Still, asked how he thought Theodore Roosevelt would have responded to the climate-change debate, Brinkley says he believes the 26th President would have been on the side of science. “He would have been on top of the latest science,” Brinkley said in a recent phone interview with The Valdosta Daily Times. “He was always up with that crowd. He’d be looking at the reports today. He would have championed the ‘let it be’ philosophy in Alaska. With ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge), he would have likely said, leave it all alone.” Brinkley makes this estimation based on his extensive research into the green side of Theodore Roosevelt. Brinkley is the author of the 2009 national bestseller “The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America.” This week, Brinkley is scheduled to speak on Roosevelt’s life and environmentalism at Valdosta State University...read more