By Catharine Richert, CQ Staff

Some call it a partisan re-branding, others call it genuine eco-friendliness. But no matter how you parse it, the Republican Party’s efforts to host a “green” convention this week indicates the party has been doing some soul-searching when it comes to the environment.

“The Republican Party is the party of Theodore Roosevelt, who was the first to push conservation,” said Melissa Subbotin, a spokeswoman for the organization that planned the 2008 Republican National Convention. “Republicans have a long history of environmental stewardship.”

Plans to make the St. Paul gathering more friendly to the environment than previous GOP conventions began months ago, Subbotin said. The most visible manifestations of the effort are the hybrid vehicles that are being used to move some officials and delegates around the Twin Cities and the four-foot tall cardboard recycling bins placed next to most of the trash barrels in the convention complex.

But many of the greener aspects of the convention are behind the scenes, says Subbotin. Planning committee employees live within walking distance of their office, essentially eliminating theor commuting “carbon footprint.” Some brochures and banners were produced with non-toxic inks, and some documents customarily printed by the box load for the convention were produced in smaller quantities for this week — or not printed on paper at all and instead posted only on a Party Web site. And the Xcel Energy Center, the hockey arena transformed into the convention hall, has long been partially powered by solar and wind energy.

All these efforts have a potential political benefit for the GOP, said Lawrence Jacobs, who directs the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota.

“They’re trying to get away from the Bush orientation,” he said of Republicans, referring to a stereotype of party members as dedicated to individual freedom and conspicuous consumption, symbolized as much as anything by driving gas-guzzling cars and denying the human impact on climate change. But these days, environmentalism is a concept that is playing well with some suburban groups that have traditionally been Republican but have recently started voting for Democrats.

Last week, the Democratic Party worked to make its convention in Denver more environmentally friendly than ever — with caterers required to use locally grown and organic food, boxes for compostable waste situated next to the recycling bins and delegates offered the opportunity to purchase bulk-rate carbon credits to offset the carbon emissions they created by traveling to the convention city.

And so the opportunity to display a commitment to environmental stewardship at their convention could not come at a better time for the Republican party.

Beyond that, the Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, has been talking about the environment on the campaign trail, saying he’ll tackle climate change if he takes the White House.

Meanwhile, gasoline prices are high and could get higher in the coming weeks after Hurricane Gustav slowed oil drilling the gulf this week. Many Republicans have stayed in Washington this week to protest those high prices and demand a vote on an energy bill that focuses on new oil production but also has language on alternative fuels and tax breaks for solar and wind energy.

And so touting a more “green” convention is a good way to underscore for voters that Republicans are serious about the environment as Democrats, said Rep. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who is in St. Paul this week to talk energy with conventioneers.

The convention “is a reality check,” she said. “These are issues that are on the minds of a lot of people, especially young people who are key this year.”

Nevertheless, a green convention won’t necessarily sway voters in the Twin Cities or elsewhere, says the host governor, Minnesota Republican Tim Pawlenty . “There will be a cluster of environmental issues this fall, but as to the convention itself, it’s just one measurement,” Pawlenty said. “Will a few people driving around in hybrids make a difference to voters? Probably not.”