The country had 5. The reasons for such heavy consumption went beyond mere economic ability to consume, some theorized. The U. Despite backlash from all directions, the message was getting through to at least one person: Nixon, who was elected President in As dawned, with American concerns about the War in Vietnam no longer dominating headlines, concerns about the environment became a further priority for the president.
In his State of the Union address delivered that January, he underscored the point :. The great question of the seventies is, shall we surrender to our surroundings, or shall we make our peace with nature and begin to make reparations for the damage we have done to our air, to our land, and to our water?
Restoring nature to its natural state is a cause beyond party and beyond factions. It has become a common cause of all the people of this country. It is a cause of particular concern to young Americans, because they more than we will reap the grim consequences of our failure to act on programs which are needed now if we are to prevent disaster later.
Clean air, clean water, open spaces-these should once again be the birthright of every American. If we act now, they can be. In fact, the Time magazine photo of the fire that captured so much public attention in was actually taken during a previous incident in And many other American rivers were sufficiently polluted to go up in flames around the same period.
The Santa Barbara oil spill is the same story again. On January 28, , a blowout in an offshore well released thousands of barrels of oil into the ocean. The previous spring, a tanker ran aground in San Juan, Puerto Rico, spilling thousands of barrels of oil. The year before that, the tanker R. Stoner grounded on U. The list goes on. Environmental Protection Agency is complicated.
But there can be little doubt that even Nixon—a Republican to his very bones—understood the need for stiffer environmental regulations. Almost all Republicans of his generation did. Clean air, clean water, open spaces—these should once again be the birthright of every American. But he viewed those costs as justifiable, even obligatory. He continued:. We still think of air as free. But clean air is not free, and neither is clean water. The price tag on pollution control is high.
Through our years of past carelessness we incurred a debt to nature, and now that debt is being called. The public overwhelmingly agreed with these mandates. Some 20 million Americans demonstrated across the country.
Congress canceled business, as its members felt a responsibility to stand with their constituents and vowed to clean up the mess they had made. Jump to navigation. Javascript is currently disabled. Please enable javascript for the optimal experience! Begin Typing to Search Submit Search. As the acting administrator since July , Wheeler has made move after move to at best undermine or at worst openly attack rules that protect our health, our environment, and our climate.
Here are three ways the agency has been undermining its own mission and one way you can take action and make your voice heard today. But the agency is tearing down standards that do just that. But EPA and its fossil fuel friends has made bold moves to weaken these common-sense standards.
They use the money for a wide variety of projects, from scientific studies that help us make decisions to community cleanups. Overall, grants help us achieve our overall mission: protect human health and the environment. At laboratories located throughout the nation, we identify and try to solve environmental problems. To learn even more, we share information with other countries, private sector organizations, academic institutions, and other agencies.
We don't protect the environment on our own. We work with businesses, non-profit organizations, and state and local governments through dozens of partnerships. A few examples include conserving water and energy, minimizing greenhouse gases, re-using solid waste, and getting a handle on pesticide risks.
In return, we share information and publicly recognize our partners. Protecting the environment is everyone's responsibility, and starts with understanding the issues.
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