Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
323150793
label
Environmental Youth Award Recipients 11/15/89 [OA 3537]
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
323150793
contentType
document
title
Environmental Youth Award Recipients 11/15/89 [OA 3537]
citationUrl
identifierLocal
13511-004
collections
Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Speech Draft Files
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
323150793
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
67a28c1107d7dd32
ocrText
Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Draft Files
Subseries:
Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13511
Folder ID Number:
13511-004
Folder Title:
Environmental Youth Award Recipients 11/15/89 [OA 3537]
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
25
6
6
3
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
November 15, 1989
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO
ENVIRONMENTAL YOUTH AWARD RECIPIENTS
Room 450
Old Executive Office Building
11:30 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: I told Administrator Reilly he looked a
little lonely standing up here with all these about-to-be-filled
places. But I am very pleased to be here. And let me, at the outset
of these remarks, while we're talking about the Environmental Youth
Awards, say how proud I am to have Bill Reilly, an outstanding
environmentalist, heading this big agency, the EPA, and being at my
side as we try to move forward legislatively and every other way our
concerns and your concerns about the environment. We're lucky to
have a man of his stature doing what he's doing.
Speaking of environmentalists, I don't want to embarrass
Gil Grosvenor, but there he is -- head of the National Geographic
Society. And I think of what they do, every single issue in one way
or another, and in many other ways as well, to help in this crusade.
It's a pleasure to be about to meet so many young people
who are deeply involved in protecting our environment. I am told
that you come from as far away as Alaska, from every corner of this
beautiful country of ours. And I want to thank you for what you've
done and welcome you warmly to the White House.
Some people might ask: What can young people do to
protect our environment? Well, we had five kids, and there were
times when I thought that the kids could make a major improvement in
the environment just by cleaning up their rooms. (Laughter.) But I
realize now we have broader responsibilities. And anyone who has
seen all of you at work knows just how much kids can do to protect
and preserve this world that we live in.
And I've heard about your projects. I've been briefed on
those -- everything from recycling to conservation to some very
sophisticated environmental research. Impressive, all of them. But
what impresses me the most is how many times you took an idea that
began in the classroom out into the community.
And every one of your projects is making your communities
a little cleaner, a little more pleasant, a little more aware of how
much the environment matters. And that's a credit to each of you and
to your schools and your teachers and your parents who gave you the
necessary encouragement and support.
But your work has an impact even beyond your own
communities. Your projects teach other kids that no one's ever too
young to care about the environment -- and they tell us something
else, too: that if kids can be environmentally aware, maybe a few
more adults will join in.
The fact is that everyone can be an environmentalist,
every one of us has got to be. What we're seeing today, not just
here, but as Bill knows so well all around the world, is a new sense
of urgency about the environment, about the state of our world.
MORE
- 2 -
Greater awareness that pollution and the destruction of our
environment hurt all of us -- that everyone of us has a common
interest in the fate and the future of this planet, and that it's
simply not acceptable to continue to do environmental damage today
and leave the cleanup for you and your children to worry about later
on.
All of your projects are special, but I hope I don't
offend anybody, I hope the rest of you won't mind if I mention two
projects -- the ones done by our youngest environmentalists. There's
last year's 4th grade class here from St. Joseph, Missouri -- I see
them smiling away here -- (laughter) -- that decided to adopt a
polluted river, adopt the river in their community and clean it up.
For one full year, you picked up the litter, tested the water,
stocked the river with all kinds of wildlife, and you planted willow
trees along the bank, I'm told, to protect against the erosion. I
can tell you that, years from now, when you sit on the bank beneath
those willows -- maybe with some of your children, some of your
grandchildren -- watching that river roll along, you're going to get
a very special feeling, then, for what you've done today.
There's another group here today -- Marquette, Michigan.
Where are they? Right over here, scattered -- all right, I see you
guys -- who collected enough money to save an 80-acre stand of white
pine trees from being cut down. And you knew how many trees there
were and how much it would cost to buy the land -- so you did a litle
math and came up with a slogan: "Save a Pine Tree for $155.28."
(Laughter.)
I've tried to make a habit myself, in various events, of
planting trees to call attention to the need to care for the future
of this planet. Planting a tree is not an act that we do just for
ourselves but for future generations, including future 4th graders
from Marquette, Michigan and elsewhere, who haven't even been born
yet.
Well, the people in your community who heard your slogan
thought that saving those trees was worth every penny.
What's true about those trees is true about the rest of
our environment -- our lakes and our rivers and our streams; our
forests and our mountains; the very air we breathe. And nothing
gives me more confidence in your generation than to see what you've
already done to protect the gifts that nature has given us. Because
"America the Beautiful" is more than just a song that we all sing.
It's a treasured inheritance. And so together, we can keep it that
way -- America the beautiful.
So I'm glad to join Bill Reilly in congratulating all of
you. And now, with no further ado, he and I have the great pleasure
of passing out these awards. Thank you all very, very much.
(Applause.)
(The awards are presented.) (Applause.)
END
11:40 A.M. EST