[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 58 (Thursday, April 22, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2549-S2550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               EARTH DAY

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I take this time to commemorate the 40th 
anniversary of Earth Day that we celebrate today, April 22.
  I think we first need to acknowledge that we have made a lot of 
progress since the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire in 1969. We have 
made a lot of progress since the uncontrolled air pollution that killed 
20 people and sickened 7,000 people over just a few days. That happened 
in Donora, PA. We have came a long way since the expose on the New York 
Love Canal, where toxic waste was dumped into neighborhood streams.
  We have made a lot of progress. I think the most important symbol of 
that progress is that the environment is now in mainstream America. It 
is mainstream politics. It is a way of life for us, and that is really 
good news. It has given us the political strength to pass important 
environmental laws. We passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, 
the Superfund law. I am particularly pleased about the Chesapeake Bay 
Program. I remember when we started that program almost 30 years ago. 
It was a difficult start, and people wondered whether we would have the 
power to stay with this issue so that we could try to reclaim the 
Chesapeake Bay. Well, we did. It is still an issue we are working on 
today. We created the Environmental Protection Agency, an agency in the 
Federal Government with the sole purpose to try to help us preserve the 
environment for future generations.
  I think we can take pride in what we have been able to do. We have 
made great progress as a nation. We should celebrate our success in 
addressing the great environmental challenges of the past. But our work 
is not done. Our environment faces new challenges today that are less 
visible and more incremental but still pose great threats to our 
treasured natural resources and all the work we have done to protect 
and restore them. For example, we do not worry that our great water 
bodies such as the Chesapeake Bay will catch fire, but there are small 
amounts of pollutants running off millions of lawns that accumulate and 
make it very difficult for us to reclaim our national treasures.
  The great wave of water infrastructure we built over 40 years ago is 
now past its useful life and must be replaced. Water main breaks, large 
and small waste water, destroy homes and businesses, and undermine the 
water quality benefits this infrastructure was meant to protect.
  Let me just give you a couple of examples that have happened in the 
last

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couple of years. In Bethesda, not very far from here, River Road, a 
major thoroughfare, became a river because of a water main break. In 
Dundalk, MD, right outside of downtown Baltimore, thousands of 
basements were flooded as a result of a water main break. In Baltimore 
County, just a few weeks ago, we had a water main break that denied 
residential homeowners water service for many days. This is happening 
all over. In the city of Baltimore, 95 percent of their water mains are 
over 65 years old and have not been inspected. We need to pay attention 
to these issues.
  If I had to mention the single most important challenge we face, it 
is in our energy policies. We all understand that, the impact it has on 
our environment, but we should also acknowledge that doing the energy 
policy right will be good for our national security. We spend $1 
billion a day on imported oil. That compromises our national security.
  For the sake of our national security, we need to develop a self-
sustained energy policy on renewable energy sources. For the sake of 
our economy, we need to do that. We developed the technology for solar 
power and wind power. Yet we are not capitalizing on the jobs here in 
America. Jobs are our most important goal. A sound energy policy will 
allow us to create more jobs here in America.
  But today, on Earth Day, I want to talk about the environment. A 
sound energy policy means we can become a world leader and bring this 
world into some sense on what is happening on global climate change, on 
the indiscriminate release of greenhouse gas emissions by the burning 
of fossil fuels and nitrogen and carbon into the air. We know we can do 
better on that.
  So on this Earth Day, let's rededicate ourselves to develop an energy 
policy that will be not only good for our security and our economy but 
good for our environment. Addressing the failing health of our world is 
not just in the hands of our political leaders alone. Each of us can 
make a difference by changing the way we live and move about the Earth. 
Our history shows us that bold and courageous actions by all of us to 
tackle our environmental challenges make us stronger, more vibrant, and 
a healthier nation. That should be our message on this Earth Day.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.

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