Nixon created the EPA, expanded the national park system as well as explicitly protected the Everglades from development, and worked to transition from coal to nuclear power. He was the last of the conservativism = conservation conservatives.
There are accounts he primarily did all of this to just ensure his reelection and accumulate political capital and good will, but that hardly changes the fact he was one of the best US presidents in terms of environmental policy.
Bringing up comparators is not deflection. And no, you didn’t refute my claim. Self defense is not offensive wars. You can be peaceful while being forced into war. Peaceful does not mean no violent, simply not seeking violence.