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Speechwriting, White House Office of
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Folder Title: Earth Day 11/28/89 [OA 3540]
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6
6
5
THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 12, 1989
One changer 1969
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
DEC 13 PM
THROUGH:
CHRISS WINSTON
FROM:
MARK DAVIS MD
p.3
SUBJECT:
EARTH DAY ARTICLE
Fine 7: A 12-14
Attached is a proposed article on Earth Day, including the
Administration's one year environmental accomplishments, to be
published in the EPA Journal.
Davis/Martin
Dec. 12, 1989
Title: Earth
Draft: Five
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
By George Bush
1989 DEC 13 PM 7: 34
Last summer, I took my 13-year-old grandson on a fishing
trip to Jackson Lake, Wyoming. The memory of that day lingers,
as the two of us cast our lines, sinking long flashy spinners
deep into the crystalline water. After some effort, we caught a
few Mackinaw trout, and let them go. But the real catch was for
our eyes.
From our small boat, we watched elk warily emerge out of the
forest at dusk to drink at the lake. And rising out of the
forest in the distance were the Tetons -- jagged, immense, snow-
capped, invincible. No words, no photo, no painter could do them
justice.
of course, there was a time when all of North America was as
primitive and pristine as Jackson Hole. But aside from protected
areas like the Grand Tetons, the buffalo hunters and the settlers
changed the face of the land, forever. The exploitation of
natural resources was a natural way of life for the pioneers. In
fact, it was the only way of life. So our ancestors did what
they had to do to build a great nation, simply assuming that the
land offered a limitless bounty.
2
Today, of course, we know better. And knowing better, we
must act better. It was President Teddy Roosevelt who declared
80 years ago that nothing short of defending this country in
wartime "compares in importance with the great central task of
leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it
is for us."
He was one of the first to perceive that nature is not an
infinite resource. Environmental destruction in one place on
Earth can have serious consequences for other, sometimes remote,
parts of our planet. In fact, some scientists compare the earth
to a single organism, a living system whose ability to survive
depends on its overall well-being.
It is not possible to restore our environment to a perfectly
natural state. Yet we've also learned that a growing economy can
only be sustained with a healthy environment. This requires a
balance -- trade-offs, tough decisions, careful planning, exact
studies and creative proposals.
Seeking that balance, environmental leaders like Senators Ed
Muskie, Howard Baker, the late Henry Jackson, and others put
aside party differences in the late 1960s to craft landmark
comprehensive environmental legislation. On January 1, 1970,
President Nixon began the new decade by signing the National
Environmental Policy Act into law. All the historic
environmental laws of the Seventies followed this bold step --
the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the laws regulating
pesticides, toxic substances and hazardous wastes.
3
It was also roughly twenty years ago that the Environmental
Protection Agency began its historic mission under the strong
leadership of Bill Ruckelshaus. And it is in this same
totpa today
tradition that Bill Reilly brings his own distinctive brand of
leadership to EPA today. leadership based on bothvirountal
expubise and on real comitiment.
In the first year of this Administration, we've taken on
many tough environmental problems. On June 12, I announced ways
we can use the market to reduce emissions of acid rain, urban
smog and toxic air pollution -- all included in the first major
overhaul of the Clean Air Act to be proposed in more than a
decade.
Later in the year, we called for $710 million for Clean Coal
Technology; a ban on nearly all uses of asbestos by 1997; and a
ban on the export of hazardous waste. In addition, we've
accelerated our leadership on global change -- proposing a 28
percent increase in global environmental research, and offering
to host an international conference next fall to negotiate a
framework treaty on global change.
But the Federal government is only part of the story.
Twenty years ago, the environmental movement was gaining strength
in the city halls and state capitols of our nation, as well as in
Washington. And the new commitment to a cleaner, safer
environment wasn't just confined to government. It grew from the
bottom, up -- not just from school boards, city councils and
state legislatures -- but from millions of homes.
4
Americans came together as environmental volunteers --
spontaneously, almost instinctively -- to save the earth. And it
was this movement that created the first Earth Day, twenty years
ago on April 22, 1970. Earth Day began as a spectacular movement
of citizen leadership. It has become an American tradition,
worthy of future generations.
A president quickly learns to see policy in the broadest
terms possible: Urban and housing policy must be related to
transportation; transportation policy to energy; energy policy to
agriculture, and so on. Applying this same perspective, one
cannot fail to see that deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean
pollution and the threat of global warming interconnect to
challenge our future. We no longer enjoy the luxury of leisurely
action. Environmental protection must become a higher priority
for us all.
If our response is to be effective, then all the nations of
the world must make common cause in defense of our environment.
This is a message I took to the peoples of Europe in May. In
Mainz, West Germany, I said that my generation remembers a world
ravaged by war. And, of course, Europeans have rebuilt their
proud cities and restored their majestic cathedrals. But I told
them: "What a tragedy it would be if your continent was again
spoiled, this time by a more subtle and insidious danger -- that
of poisoned rivers and acid rain." I told them of America's
environmental tragedy in Alaska. I noted that countries from
France to Finland suffered after Chernobyl, and that West Germany
5
is struggling to save the Black Forest today. The bottom line is
this: "Environmental destruction respects no borders."
When I suggested that the United States and Western Europe
extend a hand to the East, the people of Europe on both sides of
the Iron Curtain responded with enthusiasm. Since then, working
with my counterparts in Western Europe, we have reached
agreements to share our environmental technical and regulatory
knowledge with Eastern Europe.
I hope these agreements become a model not just for Europe,
but for the world. And I am determined that in the 1990s, the
United States of America will continue to assume responsibility
by providing world environmental leadership.
At home, we've brought to my Administration outstanding
environmental professionals, like Michael Deland, who chairs the
important Council on Environmental Quality. We've broken new
ground by declaring that pollution prevention is our ultimate
goal. For too long, we've focused on clean-up campaigns and
penalties after the damage is done. It's time to reorient our
policies to technologies and processes that reduce or prevent
pollution -- to stop it before it starts. In the 1990s,
pollution prevention must go to the source.
To save the Earth will require our best efforts. Everyone
must volunteer to help. Business, labor, and consumers must
cooperate. Environmentalists and industrialists must be
partners, not adversaries. Local communities, large and small,
must enlist. And so must families -- we all can learn to
6
generate less waste, and to recycle the waste that we do produce.
In fact, those families that do recycle have found it makes
economic, as well as ecological, sense.
Finally, there is one simple thing that you can do on Earth
Day, regardless of your age or ability. I ask you to join me in
sowing a legacy of cleaner air, and more beautiful horizons. I
ask you to perform a simple act. I ask you to plant a tree.
You don't have to be a poet or a painter to appreciate a
tree. Trees cool the earth on a summer's day. They quiet the
noise of a freeway. They provide a natural wind break in winter.
And every tree makes America a little greener, a little more like
the verdant nation the Pilgrims knew.
I hope that Earth Day will once again demonstrate that
solutions to environmental problems are emerging from the
goodwill, generosity, and vision of the American people. We have
already given the world so much. Let's give the world an example
of volunteerism and environmental leadership on April 22, 1990,
and in the years to come.
#
#
#
Document No.
093539SS
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
11/28/89
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1
EARTH DAY
:
AN AMERICAN TRADITION
SUBJECT:
By George Bush
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
DELAND
ROGERS
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide comments directly to Chriss Winston,
Room 122, x2930, with a copy to my office by NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
Nov. 28, 1989
1989 NOV 28 PM 6: 56
Title: Earth
Draft: Three
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
By George Bush
Six months ago, I took my 13-year-old grandson, George P.
Bush, on fishing trip to Jackson Lake, Wyoming. The memory of
that day lingers, as the two of us let out our lines, sinking
long flashy spinners deep into the crystalline water. After some
effort, we caught three Mackinaw trout (and let them go). But
the real catch was for our eyes.
From our small boat, we could spot elk emerging warily out
of the forest at dusk to forage the grassy plains around us. And
rising out of the forest in the distance were the Tetons --
jagged, immense, snow-capped, invincible. No words, no photo, no
painter could do it justice.
Of course, there was a time when all of North America was as
primitive and pristine as Jackson Hole. But aside from protected
areas like the Grand Tetons, the buffalo hunters and the settlers
changed the face of the land, forever. The exploitation of
natural resources was a natural way of life for our forebears.
In fact, it was the only way of life. So our ancestors did what
they had to do to build a great nation, simply assuming that the
land offered a limitless bounty.
2
Today, of course, we know better. And knowing better, we
must act better.
We know that nature is not an infinite resource.
Environmental destruction in one part of the Earth can have
serious consequences for other, sometimes remote, parts of our
planet. In fact, our leading scientists often compare our planet
to a single organism, a living thing whose ability to survive
depends on its overall well-being.
Yet, it is also not possible to restore our environment to a
perfectly natural state. To do so would mean to shut down our
factories, our schools, our highways and our cities. But we can
balance a growing economy with a better environment. This
balance demands trade-offs and tough decisions, careful planning,
exact studies and creative proposals.
America's environmental leadership began in the late 1960s,
when Senators Ed Muskie, Howard Baker, the late Henry Jackson and
others put aside party differences to craft the first
comprehensive environmental legislation. On January 1, 1970,
President Nixon began the new decade by signing the National
Environmental Protection Act into law. All the landmark
environmental legislation of the Seventies -- the Clean Air Act,
the Clean Water Act -- were built on this foundation.
It was also roughly twenty years ago that the Environmental
Protection Agency began its historic mission. Bill Ruckelshaus
was a great first administrator. And it is in this same
3
tradition that Bill Reilly brings his own distinctive brand of
leadership to EPA today.
But the federal government covers only part of the story.
Twenty years ago, the environmental movement was also gaining
strength in the city halls and state capitols of our nation. And
the new commitment to a cleaner, safer environment wasn't just
confined to government. It grew from the bottom, up -- not just
from school boards, city councils and state legislatures -- but
from millions of homes.
Americans came together for the first time as environmental
volunteers -- spontaneously, almost instinctively -- to save the
Earth. And it was their movement -- your movement -- that
created the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
Earth Day began as a spectacular moment of citizen
leadership, and became an American tradition, worthy of future
generations. That is why I will follow the examples of
presidents before me, by recognizing Earth Day, April 22, 1990.
A president soon learns to see policy in the broadest terms
possible. Urban and housing policy must be related to
transportation; transportation policy to energy; energy policy to
agriculture, and so on. Applying this same perspective, one
cannot fail to see that deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean
pollution and the dire possibility of global warming
interconnect, add up, and pose a grave threat to our very future.
We no longer enjoy the luxury of leisurely action. Environmental
protection has become an urgent priority for us all.
4
If our response is to be effective, then all the nations of
the world must make common cause in defense of our environment.
This is a message I took to the people of Europe in May. In
Mainz, West Germany, I said that my generation remembers a world
ravaged by war. And, of course, Europeans have rebuilt their
proud cities and restored their majestic cathedrals. But I said:
"what a tragedy it would be if your continent was again spoiled,
this time by a more subtle and insidious danger -- that of
poisoned rivers and acid rain." I told them of America's
environmental tragedy in Alaska. I noted that countries from
France to Finland suffered after Chernobyl, and that West Germany
is struggling to save the Black Forest today. The bottom line is
this: "Environmental destruction respects no borders.'
When I suggested that the United States and Western Europe
extend a hand East, the people of Europe on both sides of the
Iron Curtain responded with enthusiasm. Since then, working with
my counterparts in Western Europe, we have reached agreements to
advance our technical and regulatory knowledge to Eastern
Europe.
I hope these agreements become a model not just for Europe,
but for the world. And I determined that in the 1990s, the
United States of America will continue to assume responsibility
by providing world environmental leadership.
At home, we've brought in environmental professionals, like
Michael Deland, who chairs the Council on Environmental Quality.
We've broken new ground by declaring that pollution prevention is
5
our ultimate goal. For too long, we've focused on clean-up
campaigns and penalties after the damage is done. It's time to
reorient our policies to technologies and processes that reduce
or prevent pollution -- to stop it before it starts. In the
1990s, pollution prevention must go to the source.
To save the Earth will require the best efforts of us all.
Everyone must be a volunteer. Business, labor and consumers must
cooperate. Environmentalists and industrialists must be
partners, not adversaries. Local communities, large and small,
must enlist. And so must families -- all can learn to generate
less waste, and to recycle the waste that we still generate. In
fact, those families that do recycle have found it to make
economic, as well as ecological, sense.
Finally, there is one simple thing you can do on Earth Day,
no matter your age or ability. I ask you to join me in sowing a
legacy of cleaner air, and more beautiful horizons. I ask you to
perform a simple act. I ask you to plant a tree.
You don't have to be a poet or a painter to appreciate a
tree. Trees block the sun and absorb heat on a summer's day.
They quiet the noise of a freeway. They provide a natural wind
break in winter. And every tree makes America a little greener,
a little more like the verdant nation the Pilgrims knew.
I hope that Earth Day will once again demonstrate that
solutions to environmental problems are emerging from the
goodwill, generosity and vision of the American people. We have
6
already given the world so much. Let us give the world an
example volunteerism and environmental leadership on April 22.
#
#
#
No accomprishments in
the rest of the Fromal
elsein youhere Fournae Davis/Martin
Dec. 8, 1989
Title: Earth
Draft: Four
- Lew Gampton 12/12
RADITION
h
Last summer, I took my 13-year-old grandson on a fishing
trip to Jackson Lake, Wyoming. The memory of that day lingers,
as the two of cast our lines, sinking long flashy spinners deep
into the crystalline water. After some effort, we caught a few
Mackinaw trout, and let them go. But the real catch was for our
eyes.
From our small boat, we watched elk warily emerge out of the
forest at dusk to drink at the lake. And rising out of the
forest in the distance were the Tetons -- jagged, immense, snow-
capped, invincible. No words, no photo, no painter could do them
justice.
Of course, there was a time when all of North America was as
primitive and pristine as Jackson Hole. But aside from protected
areas like the Grand Tetons, the buffalo hunters and the settlers
changed the face of the land, forever. The exploitation of
natural resources was a natural way of life for the pioneers. In
fact, it was the only way of life. So our ancestors did what
they had to do to build a great nation, simply assuming that the
land offered a limitless bounty.
2
Today, of course, we know better. And knowing better, we
must act better. It was President Teddy Roosevelt who declared
80 years ago that nothing short of defending this country in
wartime "compares in importance with the great central task of
leaving this land even better land for our descendants than it is
La
for us."
He was one of the first to perceive that nature is not an
infinite resource. Environmental destruction in one place on
Earth can have serious consequences for other, sometimes remote,
parts of our planet. In fact, some scientists compare the earth
to a single organism, a living system whose ability to survive
depends on its overall well-being.
It is not possible to restore our environment to a perfectly
natural state. Yet we've also learned that a growing economy can
only be sustained with a healthy environment. This requires a
balance -- trade-offs, tough decisions, careful planning, exact
studies and creative proposals.
Seeking that balance, environmental leaders like Senators Ed
Muskie, Howard Baker, the late Henry Jackson, and others put aside
party differences in the late 1960s to craft the landmark
comprehensive environmental legislation. On January 1, 1970,
President Nixon began the new decade by signing the National
Environmental Policy Act into law. All the historic
environmental laws of the Seventies followed this bold step --
the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the laws regulating
pesticides, toxic substances and hazardous wastes.
3
It was also roughly twenty years ago that the Environmental
Protection Agency began its historic mission under the strong
leadership of Bill Ruckelshaus. And it is in this same
tradition, that Bill Reilly brings his own distinctive brand of
leadership to EPA today.
But the federal government is only part of the story.
Twenty years ago, the environmental movement was gaining strength
in the city halls and state capitols of our nation, as well as in
Washington. And the new commitment to a cleaner, safer
environment wasn't just confined to government. It grew from the
bottom, up -- not just from school boards, city councils and
state legislatures -- but from millions of homes.
Americans came together for the first time as environmental
volunteers -- spontaneously, almost instinctively -- to save the
earth. And it was this movement that created the first Earth Day
on April 22, 1970.
Earth Day began as a spectacular moment of citizen
leadership, and it became an American tradition, worthy of future
generations. That is why I will follow the examples of
presidents before me by joining with you to celebrate the 20th
anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, 1990.
A president quickly learns to see policy in the broadest
terms possible. Urban and housing policy must be related to
transportation; transportation policy to energy; energy policy to
agriculture, and so on. Applying this same perspective, one
cannot fail to see that deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean
4
pollution and the threat of global warming interconnect to
challenge our future. We no longer enjoy the luxury of leisurely
action. Environmental protection must become a higher priority
for us all.
If our response is to be effective, then all the nations of
the world must make common cause in defense of our environment.
This is a message I took to the peoples of Europe in May. In
Mainz, West Germany, I said that my generation remembers a world
ravaged by war. And, of course, Europeans have rebuilt their
proud cities and restored their majestic cathedrals. But I told
them: "What a tragedy it would be if your continent was again
spoiled, this time by a more subtle and insidious danger -- that
of poisoned rivers and acid rain." I told them of America's
environmental tragedy in Alaska. I noted that countries from
France to Finland suffered after Chernobyl, and that West Germany
is struggling to save the Black Forest today. The bottom line is
this: "Environmental destruction respects no borders."
When I suggested that the United States and Western Europe
extend a hand to the East, the people of Europe on both sides of
the Iron Curtain responded with enthusiasm. Since then, working
with my counterparts in Western Europe, we have reached
agreements to share our environmental technical and regulatory
knowledge with Eastern Europe.
I hope these agreements become a model not just for Europe,
but for the world. And I am determined that in the 1990s, the
5
United States of America will continue to assume responsibility
by providing world environmental leadership.
At home, we've brought to my Administration outstanding
environmental professionals, like Michael Deland, who chairs the
important Council on Environmental Quality. We've broken new
ground by declaring that pollution prevention is our ultimate
goal. For too long, we've focused on clean-up campaigns and
penalties after the damage is done. It's time to reorient our
policies to technologies and processes that reduce or prevent
pollution -- to stop it before it starts. In the 1990s,
pollution prevention must go to the source.
To save the Earth will require our best efforts. Everyone
must volunteer to help. Business, labor and consumers must
cooperate. Environmentalists and industrialists must be
partners, not adversaries. Local communities, large and small,
must enlist. And so must families -- we all can learn to
generate less waste, and to recycle the waste that we do produce.
In fact, those families that do recycle have found it makes
economic, as well as ecological, sense.
Finally, there is one simple thing that you can do on Earth
Day, regardless of your age or ability. I ask you to join me in
sowing a legacy of cleaner air, and more beautiful horizons. I
ask you to perform a simple act. I ask you to plant a tree.
You don't have to be a poet or a painter to appreciate a
tree. Trees cool the earth on a summer's day. They quiet the
noise of a freeway. They provide a natural wind break in winter.
6
And every tree makes America a little greener, a little more like
the verdant nation the Pilgrims knew.
I hope that Earth Day will once again demonstrate that
solutions to environmental problems are emerging from the
goodwill, generosity and vision of the American people. We have
already given the world so much. Let's give the world an example
of volunteerism and environmental leadership on April 22, 1990,
and in the years to come.
#
#
#
093539SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
11/28/89
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
By George Bush
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
DELAND
ROGERS
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide comments directly to Chriss Winston,
Room 122, x2930, with a copy to my office by NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
See Convents 12/1/89
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Gordon Binder - EPA- 382-4700.
Davis/Martin
Nov. 28, 1989
1989 NOV 28 PM 6: 56
Title: Earth
Draft: Three
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
By George Bush
Six months ago, I took my 13-year-old grandson, George P.
Bush, on fishing trip to Jackson Lake, Wyoming. The memory of
that day lingers, as the two of us let out our lines, sinking
long flashy spinners deep into the crystalline water. After some
effort, we caught three Mackinaw trout (and let them go). But
the real catch was for our eyes.
From our small boat, we could spot elk emerging warily out
of the forest at dusk to forage the grassy plains around us. And
rising out of the forest in the distance were the Tetons --
jagged, immense, snow-capped, invincible. No words, no photo, no
painter could do it justice.
most
Of course, there was a time when all of North America was as
primitive and pristine as Jackson Hole. But aside from protected
areas like the Grand Tetons, the buffalo hunters and the settlers
changed the face of the land, forever. The exploitation of
natural resources was a natural way of life for our them. forebears.
In fact, it was the only way of life. So our ancestors did what
they had to do to build a great nation, simply assuming that the
land offered a limitless bounty.
[ above IP is A insensitive to American Indians who 1) did extensive
burning & management of their land + 2) are the fore bearers of some.
Current citizens.)
2
Today, of course, we know better. And knowing better, we
must act better.
We know that nature is not an infinite resource.
Environmental destruction in one part of the Earth can have
serious consequences for other, sometimes remote, parts of our
Some
planet. In fact, our leading scientists often compare our planet
system
to a single organism, a living thing whose ability to survive
Sustain life.
depends on its overall well-being.
Yet, it is also not possible to restore our environment to a
perfectly natural state. To do so would mean to shut time down our
factories, our schools, our highways and our cities. But we can
balance a growing economy with a better environment. This
balance demands trade-offs and tough decisions, careful planning,
rigorous
exact studies and creative proposals.
Add
TR
contemporary.
90hn ?.
America's environmental leadership began in the late 1960s,
muir dinchot
when Senators Ed Muskie, Howard Baker, the late Henry Jackson and
others put aside party differences to craft the first
comprehensive environmental legislation. On January 1, 1970,
President Nixon began the new decade by signing the National
Environmental Protection Policy Act into law. All the landmark
Laws
Xattas
environmental legislation of the Seventies -- the Clean Air Act,
check the
the Clean Water Act -- were built on this foundation.
wl OPPE
It was also roughly twenty years ago that the Environmental
Protection Agency began its historic mission. Bill Ruckelshaus
was a great first administrator. And it is in this same
Better to hit Bruntland Report theme we have now learned the
hard way that a vigarans economy can only be sustained by a
healthy environment.
The 70's environmental laws were distinctly not built on the
foundation of NEPA. NEPA came from Henry Jackson and the
Interior Committee while CAA, CNA etc. came from Muskie and the
Public Works Committee. The two were politically and substantively
unrelated. CAA, CWA, etc. built on the foundation of 20 years
of previous laws on those subjected and were in fact
amendments to those earlier laws. THe first water polution
act was 1948, the first air act was about 1955.
3
tradition that Bill Reilly brings his own distinctive brand of
leadership to EPA today.
But the federal government covers only part of the story.
Twenty years ago, the environmental movement was also gaining
strength in the city halls and state capitols of our nation. And
the new commitment to a cleaner, safer environment wasn't just
confined to government. It grew from the bottom, up -- not just
from school boards, city councils and state legislatures -- but
from millions of homes.
want
Americans came together for the first time as environmental
May to enfort.
,volunteers -- spontaneously, almost instinctively -- to save the
Earth. And it was their movement -- your movement -- that
1
created the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
Earth Day began as a spectacular moment of citizen
leadership, and became an American tradition, worthy of future
generations. That is why I will follow the examples of
presidents before me, by recognizing Earth Day, April 22, 1990.
quickly
A president soon learns to see policy in the broadest terms
possible. Urban and housing policy must be related to
transportation; transportation policy to energy; energy policy to
agriculture, and so on. Applying this same perspective, one
cannot fail to see that deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean
pollution and the dire possibility of global warming
interconnect, add up, and pose a grave threat to our very future.
We no longer enjoy the luxury of leisurely action. Environmental
protection has become an urgent priority for us all.
If this is a
reference to valday
it's over dramatized.,
ceop. compared to
4
Chernolyl.
If our response is to be effective, then all the nations of
the world must make common cause in defense of our environment.
This is a message I took to the people of Europe in May. In
Mainz, West Germany, I said that my generation remembers a world
ravaged by war. And, of course, Europeans have rebuilt their
proud cities and restored their majestic cathedrals. But I said:
"what a tragedy it would be if your continent was again spoiled,
this time by a more subtle and insidious danger -- that of
poisoned rivers and acid rain." I told them of America's
environmental tragedy in Alaska I noted that countries from
France to Finland suffered after Chernobyl, and that West Germany
is struggling to save the Black Forest today. The bottom line is
this: "Environmental destruction respects no borders."
When I suggested that the United States and Western Europe
toward the
extend a hand East, the people of Europe on both sides of the
Iron Curtain responded with enthusiasm. Since then, working with
my counterparts in Western Europe, we have reached agreements to
advance shane our technical and regulatory knowledge to Eastern
with
Europe.
what
I hope these agreements become a model not just for Europe,
does
but for the world. And I determined that in the 1990s, the
thismean mean
United States of America will continue to assume responsibility
by providing world environmental leadership.
administration.
At home, we've brought in environmental professionals, like
Michael Deland, who chairs the Council on Environmental Quality.
We've broken new ground by declaring that pollution prevention is
5
our ultimate goal. For too long, we've focused on clean-up
campaigns and penalties after the damage is done. It's time to
reorient our policies to technologies and processes that reduce
or prevent pollution -- to stop it before it starts. In the
1990s, pollution prevention must go to the source.
To save the Earth will require the best efforts of us all.
Everyone must be a volunteer. Business, labor and consumers must
cooperate. Environmentalists and industrialists must be
partners, not adversaries. Local communities, large and small,
of up
must enlist. And so must families -- all can learn to generate
less waste, and to recycle the waste that we still generate. In
do produce
and businesses.
?
that it
fact, those families that do recycle have found it to make S.
> kinds of
not true
of most
economic, as well as ecological, sense.
iecycling.
Finally, there is one simple thing you can do on Earth Day,
what
no matter your age or ability. I ask you to join me in sowing endoring a
legacy of cleaner air, and more beautiful horizons. I ask you to
perform a simple act. I ask you to plant a tree.
You don't have to be a poet or a painter to appreciate a
seems like a negative thing.
tree. Trees block the sun and absorb heat on a summer's day.
They quiet the noise of a freeway. They provide a natural wind
break in winter. And every tree makes America a little greener,
a little more like the verdant nation the Pilgrims knew.
I hope that Earth Day will once again demonstrate that
solutions to environmental problems are emerging from the
goodwill, generosity and vision of the American people. We have
6
already given the world so much. Let's 13 us give the world an
of
example volunteerism and environmental leadership on April 22, 1990 and
#
#
#
in the years to
come
89. 12/01 15:35 P02 DEPT : F INTERIOR
5 THE INTERIOR
United States Department of the Interior
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240
MEMORANDUM
TO:
DENISE SCHWARZ
CABINET AFFAIRS
THE WHITE HOUSE
FROM:
TOM WEIMER
CHIEF OF STAFF
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
SUBJECT:
REVIEW OF "EARTH DAY" SPEECH
We have reviewed the "Earth Day" speech per your request,
and have the following comments.
First of all, in the first paragraph, the President caught
five fish in Wyoming, not three!
Secondly, on page 2, we would suggest that, in the third
paragraph, the sentence reading "America's environmental
leadership began in the late 1960s" be deleted. Americans
have been environmentally conscious since the days of Teddy
Roosevelt and before -- you may wish to reference him.
At the top of page 3, you may wish to add references to
Secretary Lujan and Secretary Yeutter, as well. Both the
Departments of Interior and Agriculture have strong
environmental missions, in addition to EPA's.
On page four, you could add the following sentences, which
provide additional concrete examples of this
Administration's efforts to work with other nations in
international environmental efforts.
"On December
, I signed legislation to implement the
North American Waterfowl Management Plan, which represents
an historic cooperative effort between the United States and
Canada to better manage and protect the waterfowl of North
America. Earlier this year, the United States was a leader
in convincing the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES) to restrict international trade
in ivory, in an effort to save the African elephant."
Finally, on page three, in the last four lines, we would recommend striking
the words "dire" and "grave" in discussing global warning.
093539SS
Document No.
NOV
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
CEO
11/28/89
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1
EARTH DAY
--
AN AMERICAN TRADITION
SUBJECT:
By George Bush
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
DELAND
ROGERS
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide comments directly to Chriss Winston, Kim
Room 122, x2930, with a copy to my office by NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1.
Thank you.
RESPONSE: Some comments noted throughout
If you have call any questions,
Please Thang Holland or
Tom Super, CEQ, 395-5750.
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Kristina
Davis/Martin
Nov. 28, 1989
1989 NOV 28 PM 6: 56
Title: Earth
Draft: Three
For EPA Journal Feb. timeframe
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
By George Bush
Six months ago, I took my 13-year-old grandson George P
1
a
2) Bush, on fishing trip to Jackson Lake, Wyoming. The memory of
that day lingers,,as the two of us let out our lines, sinking
long flashy spinners deep into the crystalline water. After some
effort, we caught three Mackinaw trout. (and let them go2) 1. But
I
then
the real catch was for our eyes.
from
From our small boat, we could spot elk emerging warily out
of the forest at dusk to forage the grassy plains around us. And
glaze on
n
rising out of the forest in the distance were the Tetons --
jagged, immense, snow-capped, invincible. No words, no photo, no
painter could do it justice.
Of course, there was a time when all of North America was as
primitive and pristine as Jackson Hole. But aside from protected
areas like the Grand Tetons, the buffalo hunters and the settlers
changed the face of the land, forever. The exploitation of
the proneers
natural resources was a natural way of life for our forebears.
In fact, it was the only way of life. So our ancestors did what
they had to do to build a great nation, simply assuming that the
land offered a limitless bounty.
2
Today, of course, we know better. And knowing better, we
must act better.
We know that nature is not an infinite resource.
Environmental destruction in one part of the Earth can have
place on
1
alaces
serious consequences for other, sometimes remote, parts of our
this
planet. In fact, our leading scientists often compare our 1 planet
to a single organism, a living thing whose ability to survive
depends on its overall well-being.
Yet It is also not possible to restore our environment to a
perfectly natural state. To do so would mean to shut down our
factories, our schools, our highways and our cities. But we can
balance a growing economy with a better environment. This
balance demands trade-offs and tough decisions, careful planning,
exact studies and creative proposals.
were people like
America's environmental leadership began in the late 1960s
NOT
and
TRUE
when who Senators Ed Muskie, Howard Baker, the late Henry Jackson, and
others put aside party differences to craft the first
comprehensive environmental legislation. On January 1, 1970,
President Nixon began the new decade by signing the National
Environmental Policy Protection Act into law. All the landmark
environmental legislation of the Seventies -- the Clean Air Act,
the Clean Water Act -- were built on this foundation.
It was also roughly twenty years ago that the Environmental
Protection Agency began its historic mission Bill Ruckelshaus,
under the atrong leadershy
or
was a great first administrator. And it is in this same
3
Today
tradition that Bill Reilly brings his own distinctive brand of
leadership to EPA today.
is
But the federal government covers only part of the story.
4
Twenty years ago, the environmental movement was also gaining
as well as in Washington
strength in the city halls and state capitols of our nation. And
the new commitment to a cleaner, safer environment wasn't just
confined to government. It grew from the bottom, up = not just
also was spreaching to roots m
from school boards, city councils and state legislatures
:
but
from millions of homes ,all across the country.
Americans came together for the first time as environmental
volunteers -- spontaneously, almost instinctively -- to save the
Earth. And it was their movement -- your movement -- that
created the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
Earth Day began as a spectacular moment of citizen
leadership, and became an American tradition, worthy of future
generations. That is why I will follow the examples of
joinning with you to alebrate the 20 of
presidents before me by recognizing Earth Day April 22, 1990.
1
on
A president soon learns to see policy in the broadest terms
possible. Urban and housing policy must be related to
transportation; transportation policy to energy; energy policy to
agriculture, and so on. Applying this same perspective, one
cannot fail to see that deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean
pollution and the dire possibility threat of global challenge warming all pere dn intercormate
interconnect, add up, and pose a grave threat to our very future.
We no longer enjoy the luxury of leisurely action. Environmental
must
protection has become an urgent\priority for us all.
a higher
4
If our response is to be effective, then all the nations of
the world must make common cause in defense of our environment.
This is a message I took to the people of Europe in May.
In
Mainz, West Germany I said that my generation remembers a world
ravaged by war. And, of course, Europeans have rebuilt their
proud cities and restored their majestic cathedrals. But I said:
what a tragedy it would be if your continent was again spoiled,
this time by a more subtle and insidious danger -- that of
poisoned rivers and acid rain." I told them of America's
environmental tragedy in Alaska. I noted that countries from
France to Finland suffered after Chernobyl, and that West Germany
is struggling to save the Black Forest today. The bottom line is
this: "Environmental destruction respects no borders."
When I suggested that the United States and Western Europe
extend a hand East, the people of Europe on both sides of the
Iron Curtain responded with enthusiasm. Since then, working with
my counterparts in Western Europe, we have reached agreements to
advance our technical and regulatory knowledge to Eastern
Europe.
I hope these agreements become a model not just for Europe,
am
but for the world. And I determined that in the 1990s, the
United States of America will continue to assume responsibility
by providing world environmental leadership
At home, we've brought in environmental my professionals, like
to
Michael Deland, who chairs the my Council on Environmental Quality.
We've broken new ground by declaring that pollution prevention is
5
our ultimate goal. For too long, we've focused on clean-up
campaigns and penalties after the damage is done. It's time to
reorient our policies to technologies and processes that reduce
or prevent pollution -- to stop it before it starts. In the
1990s, pollution prevention must go to the source.
our
To save the Earth will require the best efforts, of us all.
to help
Everyone must be a volunteer. Business, labor and consumers must
cooperate. Environmentalists and industrialists must be
partners, not adversaries. Local communities, large and small,
must enlist. And so must families all can learn to generate
less waste, and to recycle the waste that we still generate. In
fact, those families that do recycle have found it to makeS
economic, as well as ecological, sense.
Finally, there is one simple thing you can do on Earth Day,
no matter your age or ability. I ask you to join me in sowing a
legacy of cleaner air, and more beautiful horizons. I ask you to
perform a simple act. I ask you to plant a tree.
You don't have to be a poet or a painter to appreciate a
help cool the earth
tree and they help on the feght against global warming by absorbing carbon dioscle.
Trees block the sun and absorb heat on a summer's day,
Blue
They quiet the noise of a freeway. They provide a natural wind
break in winter. And every tree makes America a little greener,
a little more like the verdant nation the Pilgrims knew.
I hope that Earth Day will once again demonstrate that
solutions to environmental problems are emerging from the
goodwill, generosity and vision of the American people. We have
J
6
already of given the world so much. Let us give the world an
example 1 volunteerism and environmental leadership on April 22.
#
#
#
Document No. 093539SS
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
11/28/89
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1
EARTH DAY
:
AN AMERICAN TRADITION
SUBJECT:
By George Bush
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER monday am
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
DELAND
ROGERS
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
FITZWATER
PINKERTON NIC
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide comments directly to Chriss Winston,
Room 122, x2930, with a copy to my office by NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
Nov. 28, 1989
1989 NOV 28 PM 6: 56
Title: Earth
Draft: Three
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
By George Bush
hast summer,
Six months ago, I took my 13-year-old grandson, George P.
a
Bush, on fishing trip to Jackson Lake, Wyoming. The memory of
that day lingers, as the two of us let cast out our lines, sinking
long flashy spinners deep into the crystalline water. After some
are
effort, we caught three Mackinaw trout (and let them go But
the real catch was for our eyes. watched
From our small boat, we could spot elk emerging warily out
(grace dunk at the lake.
of the forest at dusk to forage the grassy plains around us. And
rising out of the forest in the distance were the Tetons --
jagged, immense, snow-capped, invincible. No words, no photo, no
them
painter could do it justice.
Of course, there was a time when all of North America was as
primitive and pristine as Jackson Hole. But aside from protected
areas like the Grand Tetons, the buffalo hunters and the settlers
changed the face of the land, forever. The exploitation of
the Pioneers.
natural resources was a natural way of life for our forebears.
In fact, it was the only way of life. So our ancestors did what
they had to do to build a great nation, simply assuming that the
land offered a limitless bounty.
Itwas President Teddy Roosevelt who declared
so years agothat nothing short of defending this countrying
writine "compares in importance with the great central took
of leaving
this land even better land for our descendents
than it is forus."
Today, of course, we know better. And knowing better, we
must act better.
We know that nature is not an infinite resource.
Newars,
place on
Environmental destruction in one part of the Earth can have
serious consequences for other, sometimes remote, parts of our
some
the earth
planet. In fact, our leading scientists often compare our planet
to a single organism, a living thing system whose ability to survive
depends on its overall well-being.
Yet, it is also not possible to restore our environment to a
perfectly natural state. To do so would mean to shut down our
factories, our schools, our highways and our cities But we can
revente
balance a growing economy with a better environment. This
balance demands trade-offs and tough decisions, careful planning,
exact studies, and creative proposals.
Seekua that balance,
like
America's environmental leadership began in the late 1960s,
when Senators Ed Muskie, Howard Baker, the late Henry Jackson and
the late 1960's
others put aside party differences to craft the first
write
comprehensive environmental legislation. On January 1, 1970,
President Nixon began the new decade by signing the National
Environmental Protection Policy Act into law. All the landmark
laws
environmental legislation of the Seventies -- the Clean Air Act,
and the laws regulating pesticides, toxic substances hazardaus waste
the Clean Water Act were built on this foundation. and
It was also roughly twenty years ago that the Environmental
under the strong leadership of
Protection Agency began its historic mission Bill Ruckelshaus
was a great first administrator. And it is in this same
3
tradition that Bill Reilly brings his own distinctive brand of
leadership to EPA today.
IS
But the federal government covers only part of the story.
Twenty years ago, the environmental movement was also gaining
uswellasm Washington.
strength in the city halls and state capitols of our nation And
the new commitment to a cleaner, safer environment wasn't just
confined to government. It grew from the bottom, up -- not just
from school boards, city councils and state legislatures -- but
from millions of homes.
Americans came together for the first time as environmental
volunteers -- spontaneously, almost instinctively -- to save the
this
Earth. And it was their movement your movement
that
created the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
Earth Day began as a spectacular moment of citizen
it
leadership, and became an American tradition, worthy of future
generations. That is why I will follow the examples of
joining with you to celebrate the 20TH anniversory of
presidents before mex by recognizing Earth Day April 22, 1990.
A president soon quickly learns to see policy in the broadest terms
possible. Urban and housing policy must be related to
transportation; transportation policy to energy; energy policy to
agriculture, and so on. Applying this same perspective, one
cannot fail to see that deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean
threat
pollution and the dire possibility of global warming
to challenge
interconnect add up, and pose a grave threat to our very future.
We no longer enjoy the luxury of leisurely action. Environmental
protection has become an higher urgent priority for us all.
must
4
If our response is to be effective, then all the nations of
the world must make common cause in defense of our environment.
This is a message I took to the people of Europe in May. In
Mainz, West Germany, I said that my generation remembers a world
ravaged by war. And, of course, Europeans have rebuilt their
told them:
proud cities and restored their majestic cathedrals. But I said:
"what ≡ a tragedy it would be if your continent was again spoiled,
this time by a more subtle and insidious danger -- that of
poisoned rivers and acid rain." I told them of America's
environmental tragedy in Alaska. I noted that countries from
France to Finland suffered after Chernobyl, and that West Germany
is struggling to save the Black Forest today. The bottom line is
this: "Environmental destruction respects no borders."
When I suggested that the United States and Western Europe
to the
extend a hand, East, the people of Europe on both sides of the
Iron Curtain responded with enthusiasm. Since then, working with
my counterparts in Western Europe, we have reached agreements to
Sliare environmental
with
advance our technical and regulatory knowledge to Eastern
Europe.
I hope these agreements become a model not just for Europe,
am
but for the world. And In determined that in the 1990s, the
United States of America will continue to assume responsibility
by providing world environmental leadership.
my administration
At home, we've brought in environmental professionals, like
importance
Michael Deland, who chairs the Council on Environmental Quality.
We've broken new ground by declaring that pollution prevention is
outstanding
5
our ultimate goal. For too long, we've focused on clean-up
campaigns and penalties after the damage is done. It's time to
reorient our policies to technologies and processes that reduce
or prevent pollution -- to stop it before it starts. In the
1990s, pollution prevention must go to the source.
our
To save the Earth will require the best efforts, of us all.
to help.
Everyone must be a volunteer. Business, labor and consumers must
cooperate. Environmentalists and industrialists must be
partners, not adversaries. Local communities, large and small,
must enlist. And so must families we all can learn to generate
do produce.
less waste, and to recycle the waste that we still generate. In
fact, those families that do recycle have found it to makes
economic, as well as ecological, sense.
Finally, there is one simple thing that you can do on Earth Day,
regurdess of
no matter your age or ability. I ask you to join me in sowing a
legacy of cleaner air, and more beautiful horizons. I ask you to
perform a simple act. I ask you to plant a tree.
You don't have to be a poet or a painter to appreciate a
cool the earth
tree. Trees block the sun and absorb heat on a summer's day.
They quiet the noise of a freeway. They provide a natural wind
break in winter. And every tree makes America a little greener,
a little more like the verdant nation the Pilgrims knew.
I hope that Earth Day will once again demonstrate that
solutions to environmental problems are emerging from the
goodwill, generosity and vision of the American people. We have
6
already given the world so much. Letjus give the world an
of
example volunteerism and environmental leadership on April 22,4 1990
and in the years to come.
#
#
093539SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
11/28/89
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
SUBJECT:
By George Bush
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
DELAND
CICCONI
ROGERS
WINSTON
DEMAREST
FITZWATER
PINKERTON
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide comments directly to Chriss Winston,
Room 122, x2930, with a copy to my office by NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
COMMENTS:
I world insert KEST excerpts
Anady
from list of accoplishments
proponed earlie ky N.
Davis/Martin
Nov. 28, 1989
1989 NOV 28 PM 6: 56
Title: Earth
Draft: Three
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
By George Bush
Six months ago, I took my 13-year-old grandson, George P.
Bush, on fishing trip to Jackson Lake, Wyoming. The memory of
that day lingers, as the two of us let out our lines, sinking
long flashy spinners deep into the crystalline water. After some
effort, we caught three Mackinaw trout (and let them go). But
the real catch was for our eyes.
From our small boat, we could spot elk emerging warily out
of the forest at dusk to forage the grassy plains around us. And
rising out of the forest in the distance were the Tetons --
jagged, immense, snow-capped, invincible. No words, no photo, no
painter could do it justice.
Of course, there was a time when all of North America was as
primitive and pristine as Jackson Hole. But aside from protected
areas like the Grand Tetons, the buffalo hunters and the settlers
changed the face of the land, forever. The exploitation of
natural resources was a natural way of life for our forebears.
In fact, it was the only way of life. So our ancestors did what
they had to do to build a great nation, simply assuming that the
land offered a limitless bounty.
2
Today, of course, we know better. And knowing better, we
must act better.
We know that nature is not an infinite resource.
Environmental destruction in one part of the Earth can have
serious consequences for other, sometimes remote, parts of our
planet. In fact, our leading scientists often compare our planet
to a single organism, a living thing whose ability to survive
depends on its overall well-being.
Yet, it is also not possible to restore our environment to a
perfectly natural state. To do so would mean to shut down our
factories, our schools, our highways and our cities. But we can
balance a growing economy with a better environment. This
balance demands trade-offs and tough decisions, careful planning,
exact studies and creative proposals.
America's environmental leadership began in the late 1960s,
when Senators Ed Muskie, Howard Baker, the late Henry Jackson and
others put aside party differences to craft the first
comprehensive environmental legislation. On January 1, 1970,
President Nixon began the new decade by signing the National
Environmental Protection Act into law. All the landmark
environmental legislation of the Seventies -- the Clean Air Act,
the Clean Water Act -- were built on this foundation.
It was also roughly twenty years ago that the Environmental
Protection Agency began its historic mission. Bill Ruckelshaus
was a great first administrator. And it is in this same
3
tradition that Bill Reilly brings his own distinctive brand of
leadership to EPA today.
But the federal government covers only part of the story.
Twenty years ago, the environmental movement was also gaining
strength in the city halls and state capitols of our nation. And
the new commitment to a cleaner, safer environment wasn't just
confined to government. It grew from the bottom, up -- not just
from school boards, city councils and state legislatures -- but
from millions of homes.
Americans came together for the first time as environmental
volunteers -- spontaneously, almost instinctively -- to save the
Earth. And it was their movement -- your movement -- that
created the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
Earth Day began as a spectacular moment of citizen
leadership, and became an American tradition, worthy of future
generations. That is why I will follow the examples of
presidents before me, by recognizing Earth Day, April 22, 1990.
A president soon learns to see policy in the broadest terms
possible. Urban and housing policy must be related to
transportation; transportation policy to energy; energy policy to
agriculture, and so on. Applying this same perspective, one
cannot fail to see that deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean
pollution and the dire possibility of global warming
interconnect, add up, and pose a grave threat to our very future.
We no longer enjoy the luxury of leisurely action. Environmental
protection has become an urgent priority for us all.
4
If our response is to be effective, then all the nations of
the world must make common cause in defense of our environment.
This is a message I took to the people of Europe in May. In
Mainz, West Germany, I said that my generation remembers a world
ravaged by war. And, of course, Europeans have rebuilt their
proud cities and restored their majestic cathedrals. But I said:
"what a tragedy it would be if your continent was again spoiled,
this time by a more subtle and insidious danger -- that of
poisoned rivers and acid rain." I told them of America's
environmental tragedy in Alaska. I noted that countries from
France to Finland suffered after Chernobyl, and that West Germany
is struggling to save the Black Forest today. The bottom line is
this: "Environmental destruction respects no borders."
When I suggested that the United States and Western Europe
extend a hand East, the people of Europe on both sides of the
Iron Curtain responded with enthusiasm. Since then, working with
my counterparts in Western Europe, we have reached agreements to
advance our technical and regulatory knowledge to Eastern
Europe.
I hope these agreements become a model not just for Europe,
but for the world. And I determined that in the 1990s, the
United States of America will continue to assume responsibility
by providing world environmental leadership.
At home, we've brought in environmental professionals, like
Michael Deland, who chairs the Council on Environmental Quality.
We've broken new ground by declaring that pollution prevention is
5
our ultimate goal. For too long, we've focused on clean-up
campaigns and penalties after the damage is done. It's time to
reorient our policies to technologies and processes that reduce
or prevent pollution -- to stop it before it starts. In the
1990s, pollution prevention must go to the source.
To save the Earth will require the best efforts of us all.
Everyone must be a volunteer. Business, labor and consumers must
cooperate. Environmentalists and industrialists must be
partners, not adversaries. Local communities, large and small,
must enlist. And so must families -- all can learn to generate
less waste, and to recycle the waste that we still generate. In
fact, those families that do recycle have found it to make
economic, as well as ecological, sense.
Finally, there is one simple thing you can do on Earth Day,
no matter your age or ability. I ask you to join me in sowing a
legacy of cleaner air, and more beautiful horizons. I ask you to
perform a simple act. I ask you to plant a tree.
You don't have to be a poet or a painter to appreciate a
tree. Trees block the sun and absorb heat on a summer's day.
They quiet the noise of a freeway. They provide a natural wind
break in winter. And every tree makes America a little greener,
a little more like the verdant nation the Pilgrims knew.
I hope that Earth Day will once again demonstrate that
solutions to environmental problems are emerging from the
goodwill, generosity and vision of the American people. We have
6
already given the world so much. Let us give the world an
example volunteerism and environmental leadership on April 22.
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 1, 1989
MEMORANDUM FOR CHRISS WINSTON
DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
FOR COMMUNICATIONS
FROM:
JEFFREY R. HOLMSTEAD
JRts
ASSISTANT COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT
SUBJECT:
Earth Day An American Tradition
Counsel's Office has reviewed the above-referenced draft article
by the President and has no objection to it from a legal
standpoint. Marked on the attached draft are several editorial
suggestions for your consideration.
Thank you for the opportunity to review this matter.
CC: James W. Cicconi
89 OCT 31 P12 : 04
093539SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
11/28/89
NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
EARTH DAY
:
AN AMERICAN TRADITION
SUBJECT:
By George Bush
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
DELAND
ROGERS
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide comments directly to Chriss Winston,
Room 122, x2930, with a copy to my office by NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
Nov. 28, 1989
1989 NOV 28 PM 6: 56
Title: Earth
Draft: Three
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
By George Bush
Six months ago, I took my 13-year-old grandson, George P.
Bush, on fishing trip to Jackson Lake, Wyoming. The memory of
that day lingers, as the two of us let out our lines, sinking
long flashy spinners deep into the crystalline water. After some
effort, we caught three Mackinaw trout (and let them go). But
the real catch was for our eyes.
From our small boat, we could spot elk emerging warily out
of the forest at dusk to forage the grassy plains around us. And
rising out of the forest in the distance were the Tetons --
jagged, immense, snow-capped, invincible. No words, no photo, no
painter could do it justice.
the scene?
them (the Te tons) ?
Of course, there was a time when all of North America was as
primitive and pristine as Jackson Hole. But aside from protected
areas like the Grand Tetons, the buffalo hunters and the settlers
changed the face of the land, forever. The exploitation of
natural resources was a natural way of life for our forebears.
In fact, it was the only way of life. So our ancestors did what
they had to do to build a great nation, simply assuming that the
land offered a limitless bounty.
2
Today, of course, we know better. And knowing better, we
must act better.
We know that nature is not an infinite resource.
Environmental destruction in one part of the Earth can have
serious consequences for other, sometimes remote, parts of our
planet. In fact, our leading scientists often compare our planet
to a single organism, a living thing whose ability to survive
depends on its overall well-being.
Yet, it is also not possible to restore our environment to a
perfectly natural state. To do so would mean to shut down our
factories, our schools, our highways and our cities. But we can
balance a growing economy with a better environment. This
balance demands trade-offs and tough decisions, careful planning,
exact studies and creative proposals.
America's environmental leadership began in the late 1960s,
when Senators Ed Muskie, Howard Baker, the late Henry Jackson and
others put aside party differences to craft the first
comprehensive environmental legislation. On January 1, 1970,
President Nixon began the new decade by signing the National
Environmental Protection Act into law. All the landmark
environmental legislation of the Seventies -- the Clean Air Act,
the Clean Water Act -- were built on this foundation.
It was also roughly twenty years ago that the Environmental
Protection Agency began its historic mission. Bill Ruckelshaus
was a great first administrator. And it is in this same
3
tradition that Bill Reilly brings his own distinctive brand of
leadership to EPA today.
But the federal government covers only part of the story.
Twenty years ago, the environmental movement was also gaining
strength in the city halls and state capitols of our nation. And
the new commitment to a cleaner, safer environment wasn't just
confined to government. It grew from the bottom, up -- not just
from school boards, city councils and state legislatures -- but
from millions of homes.
Americans came together for the first time as environmental
volunteers --- spontaneously, almost instinctively -- to save the
Earth. And it was their movement -- your movement -- that
created the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
Earth Day began as a spectacular moment of citizen
leadership, and became an American tradition, worthy of future
generations. That is why I will follow the examples of
presidents before me, by recognizing Earth Day, April 22, 1990.
A president soon learns to see policy in the broadest terms
possible. Urban and housing policy must be related to
transportation; transportation policy to energy; energy policy to
agriculture, and so on. Applying this same perspective, one
cannot fail to see that deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean
pollution and the dire possibility of global warming
interconnect, add up, and pose a grave threat to our very future.
We no longer enjoy the luxury of leisurely action. Environmental
protection has become an urgent priority for us all.
take up the
of defending
4
If our response is to be effective, then all the nations of
the world must make common cause in defense of our environment.
This is a message I took to the people of Europe in May. In
Mainz, West Germany, I said that my generation remembers a world
ravaged by war. And, of course, Europeans have rebuilt their
then went I
proud cities and restored their majestic cathedrals. But I said:
on
UC
"what a tragedy it would be if your continent was again spoiled,
say
this time by a more subtle and insidious danger -- that of
poisoned rivers and acid rain." I told them of America's
environmental tragedy in Alaska. I noted that countries from
France to Finland suffered after Chernobyl, and that West Germany
is struggling to save the Black Forest today. The bottom line is
this: "Environmental destruction respects no borders."
to the
When I suggested that the United States and Western Europe
extend a hand East, the people of Europe on both sides of the
Iron Curtain responded with enthusiasm. Since then, working with
my counterparts in Western Europe, we have reached agreements to
advance our technical and regulatory knowledge to Eastern
Europe.
nave/
I hope these agreements become a model not just for Europe,
but for the world. And I determined that in the 1990s, the
United States of America will continue to assume responsibility
by providing world environmental leadership.
At home, we've brought in environmental professionals, like
Michael Deland, who chairs the Council on Environmental Quality.
We've broken new ground by declaring that pollution prevention is
5
our ultimate goal. For too long, we've focused on clean-up
campaigns and penalties after the damage is done. It's time to
reorient our policies to technologies and processes that reduce
or prevent pollution -- to stop it before it starts. In the
1990s, pollution prevention must go to the source.
To save the Earth will require the best efforts of us all.
Everyone must be a volunteer. Business, labor and consumers must
cooperate. Environmentalists and industrialists must be
partners, not adversaries. Local communities, large and small,
must enlist. And so must families -- all can learn to generate
less waste, and to recycle the waste that we still generate. In
fact, those families that do recycle have found it to make
economic, as well as ecological, sense.
that
regardless
Finally, there is one simple thing you can do on Earth Day,
do
no matter your age or ability. I ask you to join me in sowing a
legacy of cleaner air, and more beautiful horizons. I ask you to
perform a simple act. I ask you to plant a tree.
You don't have to be a poet or a painter to appreciate a
tree. Trees block the sun and absorb heat on a summer's day.
They quiet the noise of a freeway. They provide a natural wind
break in winter. And every tree makes America a little greener,
a little more like the verdant nation the Pilgrims knew.
I hope that Earth Day will once again demonstrate that
solutions to environmental problems are emerging from the
goodwill, generosity and vision of the American people. We have
of
6
already given the world so much. Let us give the world an
example volunteerism and environmental leadership on April 22.
#
#
#
093539SS
Document No.
Trip
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
11/28/89
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1
EARTH DAY -- -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
SUBJECT:
By George Bush
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
DELAND
ROGERS
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide comments directly to Chriss Winston,
Room 122, x2930, with a copy to my office by NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
89 DEC 5 A10 : 50
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
Nov. 28, 1989
1989 NOV 28 PM 6: 56
Title: Earth
Draft: Three
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
By George Bush
Six months ago, I took my 13-year-old grandson, George P.
Bush, on fishing trip to Jackson Lake, Wyoming. The memory of
that day lingers, as the two of us let out our lines, sinking
long flashy spinners deep into the crystalline water. After some
effort, we caught three Mackinaw trout (and let them go). But
the real catch was for our eyes.
From our small boat, we could spot elk emerging warily out
of the forest at dusk to forage the grassy plains around us. And
rising out of the forest in the distance were the Tetons --
jagged, immense, snow-capped, invincible. No words, no photo, no
painter could do it justice.
Of course, there was a time when all of North America was as
primitive and pristine as Jackson Hole. But aside from protected
areas like the Grand Tetons, the buffalo hunters and the settlers
changed the face of the land, forever. The exploitation of
natural resources was a natural way of life for our forebears.
In fact, it was the only way of life. So our ancestors did what
they had to do to build a great nation, simply assuming that the
land offered a limitless bounty.
2
Today, of course, we know better. And knowing better, we
must act better.
We know that nature is not an infinite resource.
Environmental destruction in one part of the Earth can have
serious consequences for other, sometimes remote, parts of our
planet. In fact, our leading scientists often compare our planet
to a single organism, a living thing whose ability to survive
depends on its overall well-being.
Yet, it is also not possible to restore our environment to a
perfectly natural state. To do so would mean to shut down our
factories, our schools, our highways and our cities. But we can
balance a growing economy with a better environment. This
balance demands trade-offs and tough decisions, careful planning,
exact studies and creative proposals.
America's environmental leadership began in the late 1960s,
when Senators Ed Muskie, Howard Baker, the late Henry Jackson and
others put aside party differences to craft the first
comprehensive environmental legislation. On January 1, 1970,
President Nixon began the new decade by signing the National
Environmental Protection Act into law. All the landmark
environmental legislation of the Seventies -- the Clean Air Act,
the Clean Water Act -- were built on this foundation.
It was also roughly twenty years ago that the Environmental
Protection Agency began its historic mission. Bill Ruckelshaus
was a great first administrator. And it is in this same
3
tradition that Bill Reilly brings his own distinctive brand of
leadership to EPA today.
But the federal government covers only part of the story.
Twenty years ago, the environmental movement was also gaining
strength in the city halls and state capitols of our nation. And
the new commitment to a cleaner, safer environment wasn't just
confined to government. It grew from the bottom, up -- not just
from school boards, city councils and state legislatures -- but
from millions of homes.
Americans came together for the first time as environmental
volunteers -- spontaneously, almost instinctively -- to save the
Earth. And it was their movement -- your movement -- that
created the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
Earth Day began as a spectacular moment of citizen
leadership, and became an American tradition, worthy of future
generations. That is why I will follow the examples of
presidents before me, by recognizing Earth Day, April 22, 1990.
A president soon learns to see policy in the broadest terms
possible. Urban and housing policy must be related to
transportation; transportation policy to energy; energy policy to
agriculture, and so on. Applying this same perspective, one
cannot fail to see that deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean
pollution and the dire possibility of global warming
interconnect, add up, and pose a grave threat to our very future.
We no longer enjoy the luxury of leisurely action. Environmental
protection has become an urgent priority for us all.
4
If our response is to be effective, then all the nations of
the world must make common cause in defense of our environment.
This is a message I took to the people of Europe in May. In
Mainz, West Germany, I said that my generation remembers a world
ravaged by war. And, of course, Europeans have rebuilt their
proud cities and restored their majestic cathedrals. But I said:
"what a tragedy it would be if your continent was again spoiled,
this time by a more subtle and insidious danger -- that of
poisoned rivers and acid rain." I told them of America's
environmental tragedy in Alaska. I noted that countries from
France to Finland suffered after Chernobyl, and that West Germany
is struggling to save the Black Forest today. The bottom line is
this: "Environmental destruction respects no borders."
When I suggested that the United States and Western Europe
extend a hand East, the people of Europe on both sides of the
Iron Curtain responded with enthusiasm. Since then, working with
my counterparts in Western Europe, we have reached agreements to
advance our technical and regulatory knowledge to Eastern
Europe.
I hope these agreements become a model not just for Europe,
but for the world. And I determined that in the 1990s, the
United States of America will continue to assume responsibility
by providing world environmental leadership.
At home, we've brought in environmental professionals, like
Michael Deland, who chairs the Council on Environmental Quality.
We've broken new ground by declaring that pollution prevention is
5
our ultimate goal. For too long, we've focused on clean-up
campaigns and penalties after the damage is done. It's time to
reorient our policies to technologies and processes that reduce
or prevent pollution -- to stop it before it starts. In the
1990s, pollution prevention must go to the source.
To save the Earth will require the best efforts of us all.
Everyone must be a volunteer. Business, labor and consumers must
cooperate. Environmentalists and industrialists must be
partners, not adversaries. Local communities, large and small,
must enlist. And so must families -- all can learn to generate
less waste, and to recycle the waste that we still generate. In
fact, those families that do recycle have found it to make
economic, as well as ecological, sense.
Finally, there is one simple thing you can do on Earth Day,
no matter your age or ability. I ask you to join me in sowing a
legacy of cleaner air, and more beautiful horizons. I ask you to
perform a simple act. I ask you to plant a tree.
You don't have to be a poet or a painter to appreciate a
tree. Trees block the sun and absorb heat on a summer's day.
They quiet the noise of a freeway. They provide a natural wind
break in winter. And every tree makes America a little greener,
a little more like the verdant nation the Pilgrims knew.
I hope that Earth Day will once again demonstrate that
solutions to environmental problems are emerging from the
goodwill, generosity and vision of the American people. We have
6
already given the world so much. Let us give the world an
example volunteerism and environmental leadership on April 22.
#
#
#
pack
U
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
Date:
12/1/89
TO: Chriss Winston
FROM:
JAMES P. PINKERTON
P
Deputy Assistant to the President
for Policy Planning
Re: Earth Day draft
I think that this is a terrific piece.
I was particularly affected by the tree-
planting exhortation on page 5.
093539SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
11/28/89
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1
EARTH DAY
-- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
SUBJECT:
By George Bush
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
DELAND
ROGERS
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide comments directly to Chriss Winston,
Room 122, x2930, with a copy to my office by NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
Please see comments.
11/30/89
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
Nov. 28, 1989
1989 NOV 28 PM 6: 56
Title: Earth
Draft: Three
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
By George Bush
Last summer,
Six months ago, I took my 13-year-old grandson, George P.
Bush, on fishing trip to Jackson Lake, Wyoming. The memory of
us cast
that day lingers, as the two of us let out our lines, sinking
long flashy spinners deep into the crystalline crystal clear water. After a some lot of casting
a few fish
1
effort, we caught three Mackinaw trout (and let them go). But
the real catch was for our eyes.
From our small boat, we could spot' fed elk emerging warily out
drink at the lake.
of the forest at dusk ton forage the grassy plains around us. And
rising out of the forest in the distance were the Tetons --
jagged, immense, snow-capped, invincible. No words, no photo, no
painter could do it justice.
Of course, there was a time when all of North America was as
primitive and pristine as Jackson Hole. But aside from protected
there who followed
areas like the Grand Tetons, the buffalo hunters and the settlers them
STRT
changed the face of the land, forever. The exploitation of
natural resources was a natural way of life for our forebears.
In fact, it was the only way of life. So our ancestors did what
they had to do to build a great nation, simply assuming that the
land offered a limitless bounty.
2
Today, of course, we know better. And knowing better, we
must act better.
We know that nature is not an infinite resource.
Environmental destruction in one part of the Earth can have
serious consequences for other, sometimes remote, parts of our
planet. In fact, our leading scientists often compare our planet
to a single organism, a living thing whose ability to survive
depends on its overall well-being.
Yet, it is also not possible to restore our environment to a
perfectly natural state. To do so would mean to shut down our
factories, our schools, our highways and our cities. But we can
balance a growing economy with a better environment. This
balance demands trade-offs and tough decisions, careful planning,
exact studies and creative proposals.
America's environmental leadership began in the late 1960s,
when Senators Ed Muskie, Howard Baker, the late Henry Jackson and
others put aside party differences to craft the first
comprehensive environmental legislation. On January 1, 1970,
President Nixon began the new decade by signing the National
Environmental Protection Act into law. All the landmark
environmental legislation of the Seventies -- the Clean Air Act,
the Clean Water Act -- were built on this foundation.
It was also roughly twenty years ago that the Environmental
Protection Agency began its historic mission. Bill Ruckelshaus
was a great first administrator. And it is in this same
3
tradition that Bill Reilly brings his own distinctive brand of
leadership to EPA today.
But the federal government covers only part of the story.
Twenty years ago, the environmental movement was also gaining
strength in the city halls and state capitols of our nation. And
the new commitment to a cleaner, safer environment wasn't just
confined to government. It grew from the bottom, up -- not just
from school boards, city councils and state legislatures -- but
from millions of homes.
Americans came together for the first time as environmental
volunteers -- spontaneously, almost instinctively -- to save the
Earth. And it was their movement -- your movement -- that
created the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
Earth Day began as a spectacular moment of citizen
leadership, and became an American tradition, worthy of future
generations. That is why I will follow the examples of
presidents before me, by recognizing Earth Day, April 22, 1990.
A president soon learns to see policy in the broadest terms
possible. Urban and housing policy must be related to
transportation; transportation policy to energy; energy policy to
agriculture, and so on. Applying this same perspective, one
cannot fail to see that deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean
pollution and the dire possibility of global warming
interconnect, add up, and pose a grave threat to our very future.
We no longer enjoy the luxury of leisurely action. Environmental
protection has become an urgent priority for us all.
4
If our response is to be effective, then all the nations of
the world must make common cause in defense of our environment.
This is a message I took to the people of Europe in May. In
Mainz, West Germany, I said that my generation remembers a world
ravaged by war. And, of course, Europeans have rebuilt their
proud cities and restored their majestic cathedrals. But I said:
"what a tragedy it would be if your continent was again spoiled,
this time by a more subtle and insidious danger -- that of
poisoned rivers and acid rain." I told them of America's
environmental tragedy in Alaska. I noted that countries from
France to Finland suffered after Chernobyl, and that West Germany
is struggling to save the Black Forest today. The bottom line is
this: "Environmental destruction respects no borders."
When I suggested that the United States and Western Europe
extend a hand East, the people of Europe on both sides of the
Iron Curtain responded with enthusiasm. Since then, working with
my counterparts in Western Europe, we have reached agreements to
environment
advance our technical and regulatory knowledge to Eastern
Europe.
I hope these agreements become a model not just for Europe,
but for the world. And I determined that in the 1990s, the
United States of America will continue to assume responsibility
by providing world environmental leadership.
important
At home, we've brought in environmental professionals, like
Michael Deland, who chairs the Council on Environmental Quality.
We've broken new ground by declaring that pollution prevention is
Bill Deilly at FPA and
5
our ultimate goal. For too long, we've focused on clean-up
campaigns and penalties after the damage is done. It's time to
reorient our policies to technologies and processes that reduce
or prevent pollution -- to stop it before it starts. In the
1990s, pollution prevention must go to the source.
To save the Earth will require the best efforts of us all.
involved.
Everyone must be volunteer. Business, labor and consumers must
cooperate. Environmentalists and industrialists must be
partners, not adversaries. Local communities, large and small,
must enlist. And so must families -- all can learn to generate
less waste, and to recycle the waste that we still generate. In
fact, those families that do recycle have found it to make
economic, as well as ecological, sense.
Finally, there is one simple thing you can do on Earth Day,
no matter your age or ability. I ask you to join me in sowing a
legacy of cleaner air, and more beautiful horizons. I ask you to
perform a simple act. I ask you to plant a tree.
You don't have to be a poet or a painter to appreciate a
tree. Trees block the sun and absorb heat on a summer's day.
They quiet the noise of a freeway. They provide a natural wind
break in winter. And every tree makes America a little greener,
a little more like the verdant nation the Pilgrims knew.
I hope that Earth Day will once again demonstrate that
solutions to environmental problems are emerging from the
goodwill, generosity and vision of the American people. We have
6
already given the world so much. Let us give the world an
example volunteerism and environmental leadership on April 22.
#
#
#
093539SS
Document No.
9595
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
11/28/89
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1
EARTH DAY -- -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
SUBJECT:
By George Bush
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
DELAND
ROGERS
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide comments directly to Chriss Winston,
Room 122, x2930, with a copy to my office by NOON, FRIDAY, DEC. 1.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
November 30, 1989
MEMORANDUM FOR CHRISS WINSTON
The NSC staff has no objection to Earth Day An American
Tradition by George Bush
G. Philip Hughes
It : Pla 0E 100 James W. Cicconi
Executive Secretary
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
CC: James W. Cicconi
E0 :6 26 AON 68
Davis/Martin
Nov. 28, 1989
1989 NOV 28 PM 6: 56
Title: Earth
Draft: Three
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
By George Bush
Six months ago, I took my 13-year-old grandson, George P.
Bush, on fishing trip to Jackson Lake, Wyoming. The memory of
that day lingers, as the two of us let out our lines, sinking
long flashy spinners deep into the crystalline water. After some
effort, we caught three Mackinaw trout (and let them go). But
the real catch was for our eyes.
From our small boat, we could spot elk emerging warily out
of the forest at dusk to forage the grassy plains around us. And
rising out of the forest in the distance were the Tetons --
jagged, immense, snow-capped, invincible. No words, no photo, no
painter could do it justice.
Of course, there was a time when all of North America was as
primitive and pristine as Jackson Hole. But aside from protected
areas like the Grand Tetons, the buffalo hunters and the settlers
changed the face of the land, forever. The exploitation of
natural resources was a natural way of life for our forebears.
In fact, it was the only way of life. So our ancestors did what
they had to do to build a great nation, simply assuming that the
land offered a limitless bounty.
2
Today, of course, we know better. And knowing better, we
must act better.
We know that nature is not an infinite resource.
Environmental destruction in one part of the Earth can have
serious consequences for other, sometimes remote, parts of our
planet. In fact, our leading scientists often compare our planet
to a single organism, a living thing whose ability to survive
depends on its overall well-being.
Yet, it is also not possible to restore our environment to a
perfectly natural state. To do so would mean to shut down our
factories, our schools, our highways and our cities. But we can
balance a growing economy with a better environment. This
balance demands trade-offs and tough decisions, careful planning,
exact studies and creative proposals.
America's environmental leadership began in the late 1960s,
when Senators Ed Muskie, Howard Baker, the late Henry Jackson and
others put aside party differences to craft the first
comprehensive environmental legislation. On January 1, 1970,
President Nixon began the new decade by signing the National
Environmental Protection Act into law. All the landmark
environmental legislation of the Seventies -- the Clean Air Act,
the Clean Water Act -- were built on this foundation.
It was also roughly twenty years ago that the Environmental
Protection Agency began its historic mission. Bill Ruckelshaus
was a great first administrator. And it is in this same
3
tradition that Bill Reilly brings his own distinctive brand of
leadership to EPA today.
But the federal government covers only part of the story.
Twenty years ago, the environmental movement was also gaining
strength in the city halls and state capitols of our nation. And
the new commitment to a cleaner, safer environment wasn't just
confined to government. It grew from the bottom, up -- not just
from school boards, city councils and state legislatures -- but
from millions of homes.
Americans came together for the first time as environmental
volunteers -- spontaneously, almost instinctively -- to save the
Earth. And it was their movement -- your movement -- that
created the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
Earth Day began as a spectacular moment of citizen
leadership, and became an American tradition, worthy of future
generations. That is why I will follow the examples of
presidents before me, by recognizing Earth Day, April 22, 1990.
A president soon learns to see policy in the broadest terms
possible. Urban and housing policy must be related to
transportation; transportation policy to energy; energy policy to
agriculture, and so on. Applying this same perspective, one
cannot fail to see that deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean
pollution and the dire possibility of global warming
interconnect, add up, and pose a grave threat to our very future.
We no longer enjoy the luxury of leisurely action. Environmental
protection has become an urgent priority for us all.
4
If our response is to be effective, then all the nations of
the world must make common cause in defense of our environment.
This is a message I took to the people of Europe in May. In
Mainz, West Germany, I said that my generation remembers a world
ravaged by war. And, of course, Europeans have rebuilt their
proud cities and restored their majestic cathedrals. But I said:
"what a tragedy it would be if your continent was again spoiled,
this time by a more subtle and insidious danger -- that of
poisoned rivers and acid rain." I told them of America's
environmental tragedy in Alaska. I noted that countries from
France to Finland suffered after Chernobyl, and that West Germany
is struggling to save the Black Forest today. The bottom line is
this: "Environmental destruction respects no borders."
When I suggested that the United States and Western Europe
extend a hand East, the people of Europe on both sides of the
Iron Curtain responded with enthusiasm. Since then, working with
my counterparts in Western Europe, we have reached agreements to
advance our technical and regulatory knowledge to Eastern
Europe.
I hope these agreements become a model not just for Europe,
but for the world. And I determined that in the 1990s, the
United States of America will continue to assume responsibility
by providing world environmental leadership.
At home, we've brought in environmental professionals, like
Michael Deland, who chairs the Council on Environmental Quality.
We've broken new ground by declaring that pollution prevention is
5
our ultimate goal. For too long, we've focused on clean-up
campaigns and penalties after the damage is done. It's time to
reorient our policies to technologies and processes that reduce
or prevent pollution -- to stop it before it starts. In the
1990s, pollution prevention must go to the source.
To save the Earth will require the best efforts of us all.
Everyone must be a volunteer. Business, labor and consumers must
cooperate. Environmentalists and industrialists must be
partners, not adversaries. Local communities, large and small,
must enlist. And so must families -- all can learn to generate
less waste, and to recycle the waste that we still generate. In
fact, those families that do recycle have found it to make
economic, as well as ecological, sense.
Finally, there is one simple thing you can do on Earth Day,
no matter your age or ability. I ask you to join me in sowing a
legacy of cleaner air, and more beautiful horizons. I ask you to
perform a simple act. I ask you to plant a tree.
You don't have to be a poet or a painter to appreciate a
tree. Trees block the sun and absorb heat on a summer's day.
They quiet the noise of a freeway. They provide a natural wind
break in winter. And every tree makes America a little greener,
a little more like the verdant nation the Pilgrims knew.
I hope that Earth Day will once again demonstrate that
solutions to environmental problems are emerging from the
goodwill, generosity and vision of the American people. We have
6
already given the world so much. Let us give the world an
example volunteerism and environmental leadership on April 22.
#
#
#
Kathy Jeavons
Davis/Martin
Nov. 28, 1989
Title: Earth
Draft: Three
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
By George Bush
Six months ago, I took my 13-year-old grandson, George P.
Bush, on fishing trip to Jackson Lake, Wyoming. The memory of
that day lingers, as the two of us let out our lines, sinking
long flashy spinners deep into the crystalline water. After some
effort, we caught three Mackinaw trout (and let them go). But
the real catch was for our eyes.
From our small boat, we could spot elk emerging warily out
of the forest at dusk to forage the grassy plains around us. And
rising out of the forest in the distance were the Tetons --
jagged, immense, snow-capped, invincible. No words, no photo, no
painter could do it justice.
Of course, there was a time when all of North America was as
primitive and pristine as Jackson Hole. But aside from protected
areas like the Grand Tetons, the buffalo hunters and the settlers
changed the face of the land, forever. The exploitation of
natural resources was a natural way of life for our forebears.
In fact, it was the only way of life. So our ancestors did what
they had to do to build a great nation, simply assuming that the
land offered a limitless bounty.
2
Today, of course, we know better. And knowing better, we
must act better.
We know that nature is not an infinite resource.
Environmental destruction in one part of the Earth can have
serious consequences for other, sometimes remote, parts of our
planet. In fact, our leading scientists often compare our planet
to a single organism, a living thing whose ability to survive
depends on its overall well-being.
Yet, it is also not possible to restore our environment to a
perfectly natural state. To do so would mean to shut down our
factories, our schools, our highways and our cities. But we can
balance a growing economy with a better environment. This
balance demands trade-offs and tough decisions, careful planning,
exact studies and creative proposals.
America's environmental leadership began in the late 1960s,
when Senators Ed Muskie, Howard Baker, the late Henry Jackson and
others put aside party differences to craft the first
comprehensive environmental legislation. On January 1, 1970,
President Nixon began the new decade by signing the National
Environmental Protection Act into law. All the landmark
environmental legislation of the Seventies -- the Clean Air Act,
the Clean Water Act -- were built on this foundation.
It was also roughly twenty years ago that the Environmental
Protection Agency began its historic mission. Bill Ruckelshaus
was a great first administrator. And it is in this same
3
tradition that Bill Reilly brings his own distinctive brand of
leadership to EPA today.
But the federal government covers only part of the story.
Twenty years ago, the environmental movement was also gaining
strength in the city halls and state capitols of our nation. And
the new commitment to a cleaner, safer environment wasn't just
confined to government. It grew from the bottom, up -- not just
from school boards, city councils and state legislatures -- but
from millions of homes.
Americans came together for the first time as environmental
volunteers -- spontaneously, almost instinctively -- to save the
this
Earth. And it was their movement your movement
that
created the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
Earth Day began as a spectacular moment of citizen
leadership, and became an American tradition, worthy of future
generations. That is why I will follow the examples of
presidents before me, by recognizing Earth Day, April 22, 1990.
A president soon learns to see policy in the broadest terms
possible. Urban and housing policy must be related to
transportation; transportation policy to energy; energy policy to
agriculture, and so on. Applying this same perspective, one
cannot fail to see that deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean
pollution and the dire possibility of global warming
interconnect, add up, and pose a grave threat to our very future.
We no longer enjoy the luxury of leisurely action. Environmental
protection has become an urgent priority for us all.
4
If our response is to be effective, then all the nations of
the world must make common cause in defense of our environment.
This is a message I took to the people of Europe in May. In
Mainz, West Germany, I said that my generation remembers a world
ravaged by war. And, of course, Europeans have rebuilt their
proud cities and restored their majestic cathedrals. But I said:
"what a tragedy it would be if your continent was again spoiled,
this time by a more subtle and insidious danger -- that of
poisoned rivers and acid rain." I told them of America's
environmental tragedy in Alaska. I noted that countries from
France to Finland suffered after Chernobyl, and that West Germany
is struggling to save the Black Forest today. The bottom line is
this: "Environmental destruction respects no borders."
When I suggested that the United States and Western Europe
extend a hand East, the people of Europe on both sides of the
Iron Curtain responded with enthusiasm. Since then, working with
my counterparts in Western Europe, we have reached agreements to
advance our technical and regulatory knowledge to Eastern
Europe.
I hope these agreements am become a model not just for Europe,
but for the world. And I determined that in the 1990s, the
United States of America will continue to assume responsibility
by providing world environmental leadership.
At home, we've brought in environmental professionals, like
Michael Deland, who chairs the Council on Environmental Quality.
We've broken new ground by declaring that pollution prevention is
5
our ultimate goal. For too long, we've focused on clean-up
campaigns and penalties after the damage is done. It's time to
reorient our policies to technologies and processes that reduce
or prevent pollution -- to stop it before it starts. In the
1990s, pollution prevention must go to the source.
To save the Earth will require the best efforts of us all.
Everyone must be a volunteer. Business, labor and consumers must
cooperate. Environmentalists and industrialists must be
partners, not adversaries. Local communities, large and small,
must enlist. And so must families -- all can learn to generate
less waste, and to recycle the waste that we still generate. In
fact, those families that do recycle have found it to make
economic, as well as ecological, sense.
Finally, there is one simple thing you can do on Earth Day,
no matter your age or ability. I ask you to join me in sowing a
consida i'd
legacy of cleaner air, and more beautiful horizons. I ask you to
omitting
perform a simple act. I ask you to plant a tree.
You don't have to be a poet or a painter to appreciate a
this.
tree. Trees block the sun and absorb heat on a summer's day.
They quiet the noise of a freeway. They provide a natural wind
break in winter. And every tree makes America a little greener,
a little more like the verdant nation the Pilgrims knew.
I hope that Earth Day will once again demonstrate that
solutions to environmental problems are emerging from the
goodwill, generosity and vision of the American people. We have
6
already given the world so much. Let us give the world an
example volunteerism and environmental leadership on April 22.
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 15, 1989
EARTH DAY -- AN AMERICAN TRADITION
By George Bush
Last summer, I took my 13-year-old grandson on a fishing
trip to Jackson Lake, Wyoming. The memory of that day lingers,
as the two of us cast our lines, sinking long flashy spinners
deep into the crystalline water. After some effort, we caught a
few Mackinaw trout, and let them go. But the real catch was for
our eyes.
From our small boat, we watched elk warily emerge out of the
forest at dusk to drink at the lake. And rising out of the
forest in the distance were the Tetons -- jagged, immense, snow-
capped, invincible. No words, no photo, no painter could do them
justice.
of course, there was a time when all of North America was as
primitive and pristine as Jackson Hole. But aside from protected
areas like the Grand Tetons, the buffalo hunters and the settlers
changed the face of the land, forever. The exploitation of
natural resources was a natural way of life for the pioneers. In
fact, it was the only way of life. So our ancestors did what
they had to do to build a great nation, simply assuming that the
land offered a limitless bounty.
Today, of course, we know better. And knowing better, we
must act better. It was President Teddy Roosevelt who declared
2
80 years ago that nothing short of defending this country in
wartime "compares in importance with the great central task of
leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it
is for us."
He was one of the first to perceive that nature is not an
infinite resource. Environmental destruction in one place on
Earth can have serious consequences for other, sometimes remote,
parts of our planet. In fact, some scientists compare the earth
to a single organism, a living system whose ability to survive
depends on its overall well-being.
It is not possible to restore our environment to a perfectly
natural state. Yet we've also learned that a growing economy can
only be sustained with a healthy environment. This requires a
balance -- trade-offs, tough decisions, careful planning, exact
studies and creative proposals.
Seeking that balance, environmental leaders like Senators Ed
Muskie, Howard Baker, the late Henry Jackson, and others put
aside party differences in the late 1960s to craft landmark
comprehensive environmental legislation. On January 1, 1970,
President Nixon began the new decade by signing the National
Environmental Policy Act into law. All the historic
environmental laws of the Seventies followed this bold step --
the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the laws regulating
pesticides, toxic substances and hazardous wastes.
It was also roughly twenty years ago that the Environmental
Protection Agency began its historic mission under the strong
3
leadership of Bill Ruckelshaus. And it is in this same tradition
that Bill Reilly brings to EPA today his own distinctive brand of
leadership -- leadership based on both environmental expertise
and on real commitment.
In the first year of this Administration, we've taken on
many tough environmental problems. On June 12, I announced ways
we can use the market to reduce emissions of acid rain, urban
smog and toxic air pollution -- all included in the first major
overhaul of the Clean Air Act to be proposed in more than a
decade.
Later in the year, we called for $710 million for Clean Coal
Technology; a ban on nearly all uses of asbestos by 1997 and a
ban on the export of hazardous waste. In addition, we've
accelerated our leadership on global change -- proposing a 28
percent increase in global environmental research, and offering
to host an international conference next fall to negotiate a
framework treaty on global change.
But the Federal government is only part of the story.
Twenty years ago, the environmental movement was gaining strength
in the city halls and state capitols of our nation, as well as in
Washington. And the new commitment to a cleaner, safer
environment wasn't just confined to government. It grew from the
bottom, up -- not just from school boards, city councils and
state legislatures -- but from millions of homes.
Americans came together as environmental volunteers --
spontaneously, almost instinctively -- to save the earth. And it
4
was this movement that created the first Earth Day, twenty years
ago on April 22, 1970. Earth Day began as a spectacular movement
of citizen leadership. It has become an American tradition,
worthy of future generations.
A president quickly learns to see policy in the broadest
terms possible. Urban and housing policy must be related to
transportation; transportation policy to energy; energy policy to
agriculture, and so on. Applying this same perspective, one
cannot fail to see that deforestation, ozone depletion, ocean
pollution and the threat of global warming interconnect to
challenge our future. We no longer enjoy the luxury of leisurely
action. Environmental protection must become a higher priority
for us all.
If our response is to be effective, then all the nations of
the world must make common cause in defense of our environment.
This is a message I took to the peoples of Europe in May. In
Mainz, West Germany, I said that my generation remembers a world
ravaged by war. And, of course, Europeans have rebuilt their
proud cities and restored their majestic cathedrals. But I told
them: "What a tragedy it would be if your continent was again
spoiled, this time by a more subtle and insidious danger -- that
of poisoned rivers and acid rain. If I told them of America's
environmental tragedy in Alaska. I noted that countries from
France to Finland suffered after Chernobyl, and, that West Germany
is struggling to save the Black Forest today. The bottom line is
this: "Environmental destruction respects no borders."
5
When I suggested that the United States and Western Europe
extend a hand to the East, the people of Europe on both sides of
the Iron Curtain responded with enthusiasm. Since then, working
with my counterparts in Western Europe, we have reached
agreements to share our environmental technical and regulatory
knowledge with Eastern Europe.
I hope these agreements become a model not just for Europe,
but for the world. And I am determined that in the 1990s, the
United States of America will continue to assume responsibility
by providing world environmental leadership.
At home, we've brought to my Administration outstanding
environmental professionals, like Michael Deland, who chairs the
important Council on Environmental Quality. We've broken new
ground by declaring that pollution prevention is our ultimate
goal. For too long, we've focused on clean-up campaigns and
penalties after the damage is done. It's time to reorient our
policies to technologies and processes that reduce or prevent
pollution -- to stop it before it starts. In the 1990s,
pollution prevention must go to the source.
To save the Earth will require our best efforts. Everyone
must volunteer to help. Business, labor, and consumers must
cooperate. Environmentalists and industrialists must be
partners, not adversaries. Local communities, large and small,
must enlist. And so must families -- we all can learn to
generate less waste, and to recycle the waste that we do produce.
6
In fact, those families that do recycle have found it makes
economic, as well as ecological, sense.
Finally, there is one simple thing that you can do on Earth
Day, regardless of your age or ability. I ask you to join me in
sowing a legacy of cleaner air, and more beautiful horizons. I
ask you to perform a simple act. I ask you to plant a tree.
You don't have to be a poet or a painter to appreciate a
tree. Trees cool the earth on a summer's day. They quiet the
noise of a freeway. They provide a natural wind break in winter.
And every tree makes America a little greener, a little more like
the verdant nation the Pilgrims knew.
I hope that Earth Day will once again demonstrate that
solutions to environmental problems are emerging from the
goodwill, generosity, and vision of the American people. We have
already given the world so much. Let's give the world an example
of volunteerism and environmental leadership on April 22, 1990,
and in the years to come.
#
#
#