Republicans for Environmental Protection drop 'Republicans' from their group's name

Republicans for Environmental Protection drop 'Republicans' from their group's name:

What modern Republicans are doing to the last of

 the "green" elephants. (Solent News & Photo Agency)

Over at Grist, Lisa Hymas points out that the folks at Republicans for Environmental Protection have changed their name as of Monday.
They've taken out "Republicans."
And "Environmental."
And "Protection."
They are, however, keeping the green elephant that's been on their logo since the organization was founded in 1995. Gotta keep pretending. Their new name is ConservAmerica.

Jim DiPeso, policy director for the newly christened ConservAmerica, says, "We thought it was important to hammer home the connections between conservation and traditional conservative values."
DiPeso says the Republican trend toward climate denial is "disturbing," but his group certainly isn’t giving up on the party.

The trouble for DiPeso's organization, no matter how much rebranding goes on, is that the party has given up on environmental protection. If GOP leaders could take the "Environmental" and "Protection" out of the EPA's name, they would do so. The situation is illustrated perfectly by the list of members on what until Monday was the REP's Honorary Board of Distinguished Republicans. There was former Gov. and EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman, and former Congressman Jim Greenwood, and former Congressman Jim Saxton, and former Congressman James Walsh, and ...
In fact, of the 22 board members who have held public office, 17 were "formers." And the ones still in office weren't exactly what you'd label new blood.
In the Republican mainstream these days, the green elephant is rogue, out to trample the rights of drillers and grazers and mercury-emitters and scoopers-up of public land for private use. ConservAmerica is unlikely to find many of its hue rushing to sign up just because the motto is "Conservation is Conservative.®" Campaigning against the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve to oil and gas drilling, as it has done, doesn't exactly bring in the bucks from the Koch brothers. New name, new web site and lonelier than ever.