Star-Tribune Editorial Board

The platform approved at the Wyoming Republican Party convention shows the GOP is out of touch with its own state and national leaders on two key environmental issues.

Wyoming Republicans approved a plank that opposes classifying any stream in the state as a "wild and scenic river" - a federal designation that can lead to additional protection.

This stance ignores the fact that the late Republican Sen. Craig Thomas championed a bill to declare 387 miles of the Snake River system as wild and scenic. The bill, introduced by Thomas' successor, Sen. John Barrasso, and supported by GOP Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, is even named the Craig Thomas Snake Headwaters Legacy Act of 2008.

We realize the federal government isn't popular in Wyoming, but how can the state party advocate against the wishes of one of its icons? Thomas worked hard for this legislation, which would protect the water quality and the free-flowing nature of the Snake River, while allowing activities such as fishing, hunting, camping, boating, ATV use and livestock grazing. The bill has the support of the state's lucrative tourism industry, which could use the designation to help market the river.

Up until this point, the most vehement opponents of the bill have been from Idaho, including Sen. Larry Craig. A group of Idaho irrigators claims the bill would affect their water rights. In reality, the measure specifically states that it would not affect existing water rights in Wyoming and Idaho.

Rank-and-file Republicans in Wyoming need to ask themselves why their party has joined Idaho in its fight against legislation that would benefit so many interests in this state.

Another curious environmental position taken in the party's state platform is a plank that opposes any new laws or regulations related to the "hypothesis of man-made climate change."

The party's likely standard-bearer, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, has worked since 2003 with Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., to pass a bill requiring cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change.

Lest there be any mistake about his stance, here's a quote from an op-ed piece written by McCain and Lieberman for the Boston Globe last year: "There is now a broad consensus in this country, and indeed the world, that global warming is happening, that it is a serious problem, and that humans are causing it."

The senators added that a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change "put the final nail in denial's coffin about the problem of global warming." But apparently not in Wyoming, where conservative members of the party managed to pass a plank that says man-made climate change is only a theory.

It's not uncommon for some planks of a state party's platform to be at odds with national positions carved out by politicians. But McCain will be at the top of the ticket. If a more moderate position on global warming in tune with the candidate's beliefs could not be taken, why address the issue at all at the state level?

National political pundits have had a field day pondering whether Democrats can come together after such a divisive primary season. It appears that Republicans in Wyoming have their own unity issues to be concerned about.