Sometimes a story lede is so striking and self-explanatory that any further commentary just distracts from the obvious:

After 16 years of trying to marry their party’s support for drilling and climate change denial with environmental protection, Republicans for Environmental Protection is dropping the word “Republican” from its name.

‘Nuff said.

But below is a reminder of the days when it was easy to be green–and Republican.

YouTube video

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Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.