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S.T.O.P. Earth Day Program, Grand Rapids, MI, April 22, 1970
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S.T.O.P. Earth Day Program, Grand Rapids, MI, April 22, 1970
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The original documents are located in Box D29, folder "S.T.O.P. Earth Day Program,
Grand Rapids, MI, April 22, 1970" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and
Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box D29 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
S.T.O.P. EARTH DAY PROGRAM, CIVIC
AUDITORIUM, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH
8 P.M. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 1970.
WE ARE HERE AS PART OF A
NATIONWIDE DECLARATION THAT AMERICA MUST
CHANGE ITS WAY OF LIVING OR SMOTHER IN ITS
OWN WASTES.
WE HAVE COME TARDILY TO THE
TREMENDOUS TASK OF CLEANING UP OUR
ENVIRONMENT. WE SHOULD HAVE MOVED WITH
SIMILAR ZEAL AT LEAST A DECADE AGO. BUT
NO PURPOSE IS SERVED BY POST-MORTEMS. WITH
VISIONARY ZEAL BUT THE GREATEST REALISM,
WE MUST NOW ADDRESS OURSELVES TO THE VAST
PROBLEMS THAT CONFRONT US.
EARTH DAY IS BEING BILLED ACROSS
THE NATION AS A DAY SET ASIDE FOR POLLUTION
To me argne, Some argue
FORD
PROTESTS. ALL OF THE ENERGIES
BEING CHANNELED INTO PROTESTS WOULD BE
GERAL
LIBRARY
-2-
BETTER UTILIZED IN PLANNING WHAT WE MUST
DO TO MASTER OUR ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS.
However
Therey Thenth
WE MUST ALSO ASK OURSELVES WHETHER WE ARE
WILLING TO PAY THE HORRENDOUS COST IN
PERSONAL ENERGY, INDIVIDUAL DEDICATION,
SCIENTIFIC KNOWHOW AND TAX AND CONSUMER
DOLLARS. we MUST.
WE SHOULD FOCUS, IN MY VIEW, ON
WHAT I CALL AN E.A.A. PROGRAM -- A PROGRAM
FOR ALL AMERICANS.
THAT PROGRAM WOULD HAVE THREE
PRINCIPAL POINTS: FIXING RESPONSIBILITY --
IN OTHER WORDS, PINPOINTING JUST WHERE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE VARIOUS KINDS OF
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION LIES; ACCEPTING
RESPONSIBILITY -- SHOULDERING THE JOB AND
THE COST OF REDUCING OR ELIMINATING VARIOUS
KINDS OF POLLUTION; AND ADOPTING A REVERENCE
FOR NATURE -- MANIFESTING LOVE FOR NATURE
TO A DEGREE THAT WILL PREVENT POLLUTION.
-3-
ALL AMERICAN MUST TAKE THE PLEDGE -- THAT
WE WILL RIGHT MAN'S WRONGS AGAINST NATURE.
THANK GOD THE DAY IS GONE WHEN
CONCERN FOR THE LAND, THE AIR AND THE WATER
WAS THE SOLE PROVINCE OF THE CONSERVATIONIST,
THE WILDERNESS ENTHUSIAST, THE BIRD WATCHER,
AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST.
with thool
WE HAVE ALL BEEN DERELICT -- ALL
n
SEGMENTS OF GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE CITIZENS
AS WELL. WHAT CAN BE DONE NOW TO ATONE
FOR PAST SINS?
WE CAN JOIN IN A NATIONAL
MOBILIZATION THAT TAKES IN GOVERNMENT AT
EVERY LEVEL AND THE HELPING HANDS OF EVERY
CITIZEN -- A CRUSADE THAT ENLISTS THE HELP
OF MILLIONS OF AMERICANS.
THIS IS A NATIONAL STRUGGLE. JUST
AS OUR AIR AND OUR WATER BELONG TO ALL OF
OUR CITIZENS, JUST AS MICHIGAN AIR AND
WATER FLOW INTO AND INTERMINGLE WITH THE
-4-
AIR AND WATER OF THE OTHER STATES AND OF
THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD, SO OUR BATTLE
TO SAVE OUR ENVIRONMENT IS NATIONAL AND
OUR COMMITMENT AND ENFORCEMENT MUST BE
NATIONWIDE.
THE FIRST STEP IS TO LAY DOWN
NATIONAL WATER AND AIR QUALITY STANDARDS
THEN WE MUST ENFORCE THOSE STANDARDS
FAIRLY AND VIGOROUSLY.
WE MUST LAY DOWN PRECISE
EFFLUENT STANDARDS FOR ALL POLLUTERS OF
OUR WATER -- BOTH INDUSTRIAL AND MUNICIPAL.
WE MUST TAKE SWIFT COURT ACTION
WHEN THOSE WATER QUALITY STANDARDS ARE
VIOLATED AND WE MUST EXTEND FEDERAL
POLLUTION CONTROL AUTHORITY TO INCLUDE ALL
NAVIGABLE WATERS.
WE MUST ESTABLISH STRINGENT
NATIONAL AIR QUALITY STANDARDS, PARTICULARLY
FOR POLLUTANTS THAT ARE HAZARDOUS TO HEALTH
LIBRARY
-5-
AND WE MUST CRACK DOWN ON VIOLATION OF
THOSE AIR QUALITY STANDARDS, WITH FINES OF
UP TO $10,000 A DAY.
AT THE SAME TIME, WE MUST MOVE
AS SWIFTLY AS POSSIBLE TO GREATLY REDUCE
AIR POLLUTION FROM THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION
ENGINE -- WHAT SOME WOULD CALL THE INFERNAL
COMBUSTION ENGINE. WHETHER 1973 OR 1975
ARE EARLY ENOUGH GOALS IS OPEN TO QUESTION
I REMIND YOU THAT THE PRESIDENT
IS MARSHALLING BOTH GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE
RESEARCH TO PRODUCE AN UNCONVENTIONALLY-
POWERED, VIRTUALLY POLLUTION-FREE
AUTOMOBILE WITHIN FIVE YEARS. THIS SHOULD
SERVE AS A POWERFUL STIMULANT TO DETROIT
TO ELIMINATE POLLUTION FROM THE INTERNAL
COMBUSION ENGINE IN LESS THAN FIVE YEARS.
USE OF LEAD-FREE GASOLINES IN ALL CARS,
AS NOW ENVISAGED, CERTAINLY WOULD BE A
GERAALD FORD LIBRARY
GREAT CONTRIBUTION. AS YOU MAY KNOW, AUTO
-6-
MANUFACTURERS ARE PLANNING TO PUT ON THE
MARKET BY 1972 AUTOMOBILES WHICH WILL USE
ONLY UNLEADED GASOLINE.
WE HAVE OUR MOVING AIR POLLUTERS --
THE MOTOR VEHICLE -- AND WE HAVE OUR
STATIONARY AIR POLLUTERS -- POWER PLANTS,
FURNACES, AND INCINERATORS. IN HIGHLY
INDUSTRIALIZED AREAS, BREATHING CAN
LITERALLY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH. WE
MUST REMEDY THIS SITUATION THROUGH ADOPTION
OF A FEDERAL CLEAN AIR ACT WHICH WILL
GREATLY EXPAND THE PRESENT SCOPE OF
POLLUTION CONTROL.
I HAVE SPOKEN OF THE ENACTMENT
OF NATIONAL AIR AND WATER QUALITY STANDARDS
AND OF OTHER LEGISLATION DESIGNED TO
IMPLEMENT THE WAR ON POLLUTION. THE WAR,
OF COURSE, IS ALREADY IN PROGRESS.
WASHINGTON ALREADY IS CRACKING
DOWN ON AIR AND WATER POLLUTION BY U.S.
INDUSTRY.
-7-
ON MARCH 24 HEW SECRETARY FINCH
PUT PRESSURE ON THE OIL INDUSTRY TO REMOVE
LEAD FROM GASOLINE.
ON MARCH 24 AND 25 THE SENATE AND
HOUSE APPROVED A BILL IMPOSING ABSOLUTE
LIABILITY ON THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR OIL
SPILLS IN U.S. WATERS, AND THE PRESIDENT
HAS SIGNED THAT BILL INTO LAW.
ON MARCH 25, FEDERAL OFFICIALS
MOVED TO PROSECUTE THE COMPANY INVOLVED IN
A SPECTACULAR OIL SPILL AND FIRE IN THE
GULF OF MEXICO.
ON MARCH 26 INTERIOR SECRETARY
HICKEL WARNED A GERMAN FIRM PLANNING TO
BUILD A CHEMICAL PLANT IN BEAUFORT COUNTY,
SOUTH CAROLINA, HE WOULD OPPOSE THE PROJECT
UNLESS THE COMPANY PROVIDES "ENVIRONMENTAL
SAFEGUARDS."
A DRIVE TO CLEAN UP LAKE MICHIGAN
FROM INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION HAS BEEN UNDER
-8-
WAY FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, WITH FEDERAL AND
ILLINOIS AGENCIES WORKING TOGETHER TO
PRODUCE NEARLY TWO DOZEN INDICTMENTS.
LOCAL COMMUNITIES ARE THEMSELVES,
OF COURSE, SOMETIMES THE BIGGEST OFFENDERS.
AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS NOT BEEN
BLAMELESS IN THE PAST. LA TREMENDOUS
CLEANUP JOB FACES OUR GOVERNMENTS IN THE
AREA OF WATER POLLUTION
WHETHER PRESIDENT NIXON'S
$10 BILLION WATER CLEANUP PROGRAM IS
ADEQUATE WILL BE MUCH DEBATED IN THE WEEKS
AHEAD. I CERTAINLY APPLAUD HIS RECENT MOVE
TO HALT THE DUMPING OF POLLUTED DREDGED
MATERIAL BACK INTO LAKE MICHIGAN.
I
HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TOUCH ONLY
BRTEFLY ON THE DANGERS TO OUR ENVIRONMENT
AND A FEW OF THE SOLUTIONS t SEE
I HAVE
FORD
SAID NOTHING UP TO THIS POINT, FOR INSTANCE
6777
LIBRARI
ABOUT THE SOLID WASTE PROBLEM -- AND YET
-9-
THIS PROBLEM IS PERHAPS MORE DIFFICULT THAN
AIR AND WATER POLLUTION. THAVE ALSO SAID
NOTHING AS YET ABOUT ONE OF THE MOST
has not been mentroned
OBVIOUS APPROACHES TO POLLUTION -- THE NEED
TO LIMIT POPULATION GROWTH SO AS TO HOLD
DOWN THE NUMBER OF POLLUTERS.
THROUGH ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS
RUNS A COMMON THREAD -- THE NEED FOR MORE
KNOWLEDGE, THE NEED FOR RESEARCH, THE
NEED FOR EXPERIMENTATION. WE ARE, AFTER ALL
GRAPPLING WITH A MISSION WHICH IS FAR MORE
DIFFICULT THAN REACHING THE MOON.
WE MUST ASK OURSELVES COUNTLESS
QUESTIONS: WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD OF
SEWAGE TREATMENT? HOW DO WE ATTACK THE
PROBLEM OF SOLID WASTE? DO WE IMPOSE A
PRODUCT TAX TO PAY FOR THE COST OF DISPOSING
OF PACKAGES AND OTHER SUCH MATERIALS?
IS IT POSSIBLE TO GET EVERY HOUSEHOLDER
TO SEGREGATE TRASH SO THAT WE CAN MOST
-10-
EASILY ADAPT IT TO RECYCLING? SHOULD WE SET
UP A FEDERAL DEPARTMENT ON THE ENVIRONMENT
OR WOULD THIS SIMPLY BE ANOTHER BUREAUCRATIC
MONSTROSITY?
WHATEVER THE ANSWERS TO THESE AND
OTHER QUESTIONS, I DO NOT THINK THE CURRENT
CAMPAIGN AGAINST POLLUTION IS A PASSING
FANCY. IT MUST NOT BE. WE ARE, ALL OF us,
IN THIS FIGHT TO STAY.
WE MUST LICK POLLUTION DURING THIS
DECADE BUT THE BATTLE WILL NEVER REALLY BE
WON. WE MUST REMAIN EVER VIGILANT, EVER
ON GUARD AGAINST THOSE WHO WOULD WITTINGLY
OR UNWITTINGLY DESPOIL OUR ENVIRONMENT. WE
MUST KEEP EVER CLOSE TO OUR HEARTS OUR
REVERENCE FOR NATURE AND LOOK UPON ALL WHO
WOULD ASSAULT HER AS VIOLATORS OF THE PUBLIC
PRESERVE.
FORDO & LIBRARY
END : :
20 copies to Mr. Ford only
a Office Copy
A SPEECH BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AT THE S.T.O.P. EARTH DAY PROGRAM
AT THE CIVIC AUDITORIUM
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
AT 8 P.M. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 1970
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
We are here as part of a nationwide declaration that America must change its
way of living or smother in its own wastes.
We have come tardily to the tremendous task of cleaning up our environment.
We should have moved with similar zeal at least a decade ago. But no purpose is
served by post-mortems. With visionary zeal but the greatest realism, we must now
address ourselves to the vast problems that confront us.
Earth Day is being billed across the Nation as a day set aside for pollution
protests. To my mind, all of the energies being channeled into protests would be
better utilized in planning what we must do to master our environmental problems.
We must also ask ourselves whether we are willing to pay the horrendous cost in
personal energy, individual dedication, scientific knowhow and tax and consumer
dollars.
We should focus, in my view, on what I call an F. A. A. Program -- a Program
For All Americans.
That program would have three principal points: Fixing responsibility --
in other words, pinpointing just where responsibility for the various kinds of
environmental pollution lies; Accepting responsibility -- shouldering the job and
the cost of reducing or eliminating various kinds of pollution; and Adopting a
reverence for nature -- manifesting love for nature to a degree that will prevent
pollution. All Americans must take the pledge -- that we will right man's wrongs
against nature.
Thank God the day is gone when concern for the land, the air and the water
was the sole province of the conservationist, the wilderness enthusiast, the bird
watcher, and the environmental scientist.
We have all been derelict -- all segments of government and private citizens
as well. What can be done now to atone for past sins?
We can join in a national mobilization that takes in government at every
level and the helping hands of every citizen -- a crusade that enlists the help
(more)
-2-
of millions of Americans.
This is a national struggle. Just as our air and our water belong to all of
our citizens, just as Michigan air and water flow into and intermingle with the
air and water of the other states and of the nations of the world, so our battle
to save our environment is national and our commitment and enforcement must be
nationwide.
The first step is to lay down national water and air quality standards, and
then we must enforce those standards fairly and vigorously.
We must lay down precise effluent standards for all polluters of our
water -- both industrial and municipal.
We must take swift court action when those water quality standards are
violated and we must extend Federal pollution control authority to include all
navigable waters.
We must establish stringent national air quality standards, particularly for
pollutants that are hazardous to health. And we must crack down on violation of
those air quality standards with fines of up to $10,000 a day.
At the same time, we must move as swiftly as possible to greatly reduce air
pollution from the internal combustion engine -- what some would call the infernal
combustion engine. Whether 1973 or 1975 are early enough goals is open to question.
I remind you that the President is marshalling both government and private
research to produce an unconventionally-powered, virtually pollution-free automobile
within five years. This should serve as a powerful stimulant to Detroit to
eliminate pollution from the internal combustion engine in less than five years.
Use of lead-free gasolines in all cars, as now envisaged, certainly would be a
great contribution. As you may know, auto manufacturers are planning to put on
the market by 1972 automobiles which will use only unleaded gasoline.
We have our moving air polluters -- the motor vehicle -- and we have our
stationary air polluters -- power plants, furnaces, and incinerators. In highly
industrialized areas, breathing can literally be hazardous to your health. We must
remedy this situation through adoption of a Federal Clean Air Act which will
greatly expand the present scope of pollution control.
I have spoken of the enactment of national air and water quality standards
and of other legislation designed to implement the war on pollution. The war,
of course, is already in progress.
Washington already is cracking down on air and water pollution by U.S.
industry.
(more)
-3-
On March 24 HEW Secretary Finch put pressure on the oil industry to remove
lead from gasoline.
On March 24 and 25 the Senate and House approved a bill imposing absolute
liability on those responsible for oil spills in U.S. waters, and the President has
signed that bill into law.
On March 25, Federal officials moved to prosecute the company involved in a
spectacular oil spill and fire in the Gulf of Mexico.
On March 26 Interior Secretary Hickel warned a German firm planning to build
a chemical plant in Beaufort County, S.C., he would oppose the project unless the
company provides "environmental safeguards."
A drive to clean up Lake Michigan from industrial pollution has been under
way for several months, with Federal and Illinois agencies working together to
produce nearly two dozen indictments.
Local communities are themselves, of course, sometimes the biggest offenders.
And the Federal Government has not been blemeless in the past. A tremendous
cleanup job faces our governments in the area of water pollution.
Whether President Nixon's $10 billion water cleanup program is adequate will
be much debated in the weeks ahead. I certainly applaud his recent move to halt
the dumping of polluted dredged material back into Lake Michigan.
I have been able to touch only briefly on the dangers to our environment and
a few of the solutions I see. I have said nothing up to this point, for instance,
about the solid waste problem -- and yet this problem is perhaps more difficult than
air and water pollution. I have also said nothing as yet about one of the most
obvious approaches to pollution -- the need to limit population growth so as to
hold down the number of polluters.
Through all of these problems runs a common thread -- the need for more
knowledge, the need for research, the need for experimentation. We are, after all,
grappling with a mission which is far more difficult than reaching the moon.
We must ask ourselves countless questions: What is the best method of
sewage treatment? How do we attack the problem of solid waste? Do we impose a
product tax to pay for the cost of disposing of packages and other such materials?
Is it possible to get every householder to segregate trash so that we can most
easily adapt it to recycling? Should we set up a Federal Department on the
Environment or would this simply be another bureaucratic monstrosity?
Whatever the answers to these and other questions, I do not think the
(more)
-4-
current campaign against pollution is a passing fancy. It must not be. We are,
all of us, in this fight to stay.
We may lick pollution during this decade but the battle will never really
be won. We must remain ever vigilatn, ever on guard against those who would
wittingly or unwittingly despoil our environment. We must keep ever close to our
hearts our reverence for nature and look upon all who would assault her as
violators of the public preserve.
###
Destribution 20 copies The. Ford
m office Copy
A SPEECH BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AT THE S.T.O.P. EARTH DAY PROGRAM
AT THE CIVIC AUDITORIUM
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
AT 8 P.M. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 1970
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
We are here as part of a nationwide declaration that America must change its
way of living or smother in its own wastes.
We have come tardily to the tremendous task of cleaning up our environment.
We should have moved with similar zeal at least a decade ago. But no purpose is
served by post-mortems. With visionary zeal but the greatest realism, we must now
address ourselves to the vast problems that confront us.
Earth Day is being billed across the Nation as a day set aside for pollution
protests. To my mind, all of the energies being channeled into protests would be
better utilized in planning what we must do to master our environmental problems.
We must also ask ourselves whether we are willing to pay the horrendous cost in
personal energy, individual dedication, scientific knowhow and tax and consumer
dollars.
We should focus, in my view, on what I call an F. A. A. Program -- a Program
For All Americans.
That program would have three principal points: Fixing responsibility --
in other words, pinpointing just where responsibility for the various kinds of
environmental pollution lies; Accepting responsibility -- shouldering the job and
the cost of reducing or eliminating various kinds of pollution; and Adopting a
reverence for nature -- manifesting love for nature to a degree that will prevent
pollution. All Americans must take the pledge -- that we will right man's wrongs
against nature.
Thank God the day is gone when concern for the land, the air and the water
was the sole province of the conservationist, the wilderness enthusiast, the bird
watcher, and the environmental scientist.
We have all been derelict -- all segments of government and private citizens
as well. What can be done now to atone for past sins?
We can join in a national mobilization that takes in government at every
level and the helping hands of every citizen -- a crusade that enlists the help
(more)
-2-
of millions of Americans.
This is a national struggle. Just as our air and our water belong to all of
our citizens, just as Michigan air and water flow into and intermingle with the
air and water of the other states and of the nations of the world, SO our battle
to save our environment is national and our commitment and enforcement must be
nationwide.
The first step is to lay down national water and air quality standards, and
then we must enforce those standards fairly and vigorously.
We must lay down precise effluent standards for all polluters of our
water -- both industrial and municipal.
We must take swift court action when those water quality standards are
violated and we must extend Federal pollution control authority to include all
navigable waters.
We must establish stringent national air quality standards, particularly for
pollutants that are hazardous to health. And we must crack down on violation of
those air quality standards with fines of up to $10,000 a day.
At the same time, we must move as swiftly as possible to greatly reduce air
pollution from the internal combustion engine -- what some would call the infernal
combustion engine. Whether 1973 or 1975 are early enough goals is open to question.
I remind you that the President is marshalling both government and private
research to produce an unconventionally-powered, virtually pollution-free automobile
within five years. This should serve as a powerful stimulant to Detroit to
eliminate pollution from the internal combustion engine in less than five years.
Use of lead-free gasolines in all cars, as now envisaged, certainly would be a
great contribution. As you may know, auto manufacturers are planning to put on
the market by 1972 automobiles which will use only unleaded gasoline.
We have our moving air polluters -- the motor vehicle -- and we have our
stationary air polluters -- power plants, furnaces, and incinerators. In highly
industrialized areas, breathing can literally be hazardous to your health. We must
remedy this situation through adoption of a Federal Clean Air Act which will
greatly expand the present scope of pollution control.
I have spoken of the enactment of national air and water quality standards
and of other legislation designed to implement the war on pollution. The war,
of course, is already in progress.
Washington already is cracking down on air and water pollution by U.S.
industry.
(more)
-3-
On March 24 HEW Secretary Finch put pressure on the oil industry to remove
lead from gasoline.
On March 24 and 25 the Senate and House approved a bill imposing absolute
liability on those responsible for oil spills in U.S. waters, and the President has
signed that bill into law.
On March 25, Federal officials moved to prosecute the company involved in a
spectacular oil spill and fire in the Gulf of Mexico.
On March 26 Interior Secretary Hickel warned a German firm planning to build
a chemical plant in Beaufort County, S.C., he would oppose the project unless the
company provides "environmental safeguards.'
A drive to clean up Lake Michigan from industrial pollution has been under
way for several months, with Federal and Illinois agencies working together to
produce nearly two dozen indictments.
Local communities are themselves, of course, sometimes the biggest offenders.
And the Federal Government has not been blemeless in the past. A tremendous
cleanup job faces our governments in the area of water pollution.
Whether President Nixon's $10 billion water cleanup program is adequate will
be much debated in the weeks ahead. I certainly applaud his recent move to halt
the dumping of polluted dredged material back into Lake Michigan.
I have been able to touch only briefly on the dangers to our environment and
a few of the solutions I see. I have said nothing up to this point, for instance,
about the solid waste problem -- and yet this problem is perhaps more difficult than
air and water pollution. I have also said nothing as yet about one of the most
obvious approaches to pollution -- the need to limit population growth so as to
hold down the number of polluters.
Through all of these problems runs a common thread -- the need for more
knowledge, the need for research, the need for experimentation. We are, after all,
grappling with a mission which is far more difficult than reaching the moon.
We must ask ourselves countless questions: What is the best method of
sewage treatment? How do we attack the problem of solid waste? Do we impose a
product tax to pay for the cost of disposing of packages and other such materials?
Is it possible to get every householder to segregate trash so that we can most
easily adapt it to recycling? Should we set up a Federal Department on the
Environment or would this simply be another bureaucratic monstrosity?
Whatever the answers to these and other questions, I do not think the
(more)
-4-
current campaign against pollution is a passing fancy. It must not be. We are,
all of us, in this fight to stay.
We may lick pollution during this decade but the battle will never really
be won. We must remain ever vigilatn, ever on guard against those who would
wittingly or unwittingly despoil our environment. We must keep ever close to our
hearts our reverence for nature and look upon all who would assault her as
violators of the public preserve.
###