Southeast Missouri Republican U.S. Rep. Jason Smith said a "realistic, reasonable approach" to protecting the environment is needed, during remarks following a Monday, April 24, stop in Cape Girardeau.

His comments came following the latest commemoration of Earth Day on Saturday, April 22.

"Everyone cares about clean air and water; you've got to have them to survive. Republicans are the party of conservation going back to Teddy Roosevelt. Since Richard Nixon, who brought us the Environmental Protection Agency and landmark clean air and clean water legislation, (U.S.) emissions have decreased 74% and the economy has increased by nearly 300%. We have to find a balance that allows us to thrive in our economy but also protect the environment," said Smith, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Smith, 42, said buy-in to environmental protection is needed by all the nations of the world.

"A great place to look at are the big polluters in the world — in China and India. We've got to make sure it's a world-dominated effect in looking after clean air and water, but unfortunately we have too many bad actors in China," Smith said. "There are numerous Republican policies out there. For example, the Trillion Trees Initiative, which I was co-sponsor of, is pushing for a trillion new trees across the world. This mechanism alone would capture two-thirds of all man-made carbon emissions."

The Trillion Tree Act bill was introduced during the 117th Congress in 2021. Smith was among 105 co-sponsors but the measure was not enacted into law.

"There are realistic, reasonable approaches. Unfortunately, a lot of the folks on the other side have been trying to push the Green New Deal, which would cost us over $90 trillion. For Missourians, that means $141 million would be spent every day since Jesus Christ was born. That's what the cost would be and would eliminate farming as we know it. We can't have that in rural America," Smith said. "We have to find a balance and that's the obstacle we have. We also need to use all forms of energy — solar, wind and fossil fuels. We can't sustain without using everything."