[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 58 (Thursday, April 22, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2596-S2600]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COMMEMORATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF EARTH DAY
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of H. Con. Res. 255, which was
received from the House.
[[Page S2597]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 255) commemorating
the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and honoring the founder of
Earth Day, the late Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
concurrent resolution.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day,
a day set aside to appreciate the environment. In 1970, Senator Gaylord
Nelson from Wisconsin recognized the power of campus activism and
established Earth Day as a way to highlight the environmental problems
this Nation faced--air pollution from factories, water pollution from
unregulated discharges, and toxic waste dumps. After Congress passed
legislation to designate April 22 as Earth Day, Congress passed several
bills to protect the environment including the Clean Water Acts, the
National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the Federal Pesticides Act, the
Clean Air Act, the Environmental Education Act, and the National Hiking
Trails and the National Scenic Trails Acts.
Because Michigan is surrounded by four of the five Great Lakes, the
problems plaguing the lakes have an enormous impact on Michigan. A
generation ago, the Great Lakes were a huge reservoir of persistent
toxic substances, but they have improved markedly since that time. The
Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, estimates that the Great Lakes
Critical Programs Act, which I sponsored in 1990, has reduced direct
toxic water discharges by millions of pounds per year. In addition,
since 2002, the EPA estimates that close to 900,000 cubic yards of
contaminated sediment have been removed under the Great Lakes Legacy
Act at 5 of the 31 U.S. ``Areas of Concern'' in the Great Lakes,
thirteen of which are found in Michigan.
While the Great Lakes have made strides in recovering, historical
problems still exist and new problems are on the horizon. There are
still hundreds of fish advisories issued every year; the number of
beach closings remains high; Lake Erie is once again experiencing a
``dead zone'' from high levels of phosphorus; and a new invasive
species enters the Great Lakes about every 8 months. Last year,
Congress provided $475 million for comprehensive Great Lakes
restoration efforts.
Because of its industrial past, Michigan has faced some challenges
with contaminated properties, including complications related to
redevelopment. This is why I have also long been a supporter of
brownfields redevelopment and smart growth efforts, which connect
environmental goals with economic and community development objectives.
In 1999, I joined my former colleague, Senator Jim Jeffords to form the
Senate Smart Growth Task Force. The task force serves as a forum for
Senators interested in sustainable and sensible growth, and has
supported locally driven, federally supported smart growth practices.
Supporting and enjoying Michigan's parks and trails are also
important aspects of this Earth Day celebration. Last year, I helped
establish the Beaver Basin area as Wilderness at Pictured Rocks
National Lakeshore and I am currently working on another Wilderness
designation in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It is
important for the public to have access to these areas so they can
enjoy magnificent vistas, quiet streams, freshwater lakes, forests and
prairies, and other natural beauty. To promote access and conservation,
I have also worked to improve the North Country National Scenic Trail,
which runs through Michigan, by helping to provide ``willing seller
authority'' to help the trail be completed more quickly. When
completed, the trail will span seven States and roughly 4,600 miles,
approximately 1,000 miles of which will be located in Michigan,
preserving critical outdoor recreational opportunities while providing
a boost to the local economies along the trail.
Michigan is blessed to have so many natural resources. It is
important that we recognize that we are just temporary stewards and
that we protect and restore our resources for current and future
generations.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today our Nation marks the 40th anniversary
of Earth Day. For four decades, Americans have joined together on April
22 to celebrate our environment and to commit ourselves to fostering a
healthier world. What Senator Gaylord Nelson began as a grassroots
response to widespread environmental degradation in the 1970s has grown
to become the foundation of the modern environmental movement and an
annual recognition of Earth Day. For 40 years, Americans have used this
day to organize events and participate in activities to draw attention
to environmental issues and to promote environmental awareness and
reform. Today, on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, we can be proud of
the many steps we have taken to clean up the environment. With the hard
work and dedication of many, we have made progress. But there is more
work to be done and we are facing many new threats.
Now for the first time since the passage of the landmark
environmental laws of the 1970s, we are close to making significant
strides to address environmental, climate, and energy-related issues.
Bipartisan legislation is being developed in both the House of
Representatives and the Senate, and significant steps have been taken
already by this administration to ease the impact of human activities
on the natural world, for our benefit, and for the benefit of
generations to come. We do not have to choose between creating jobs and
protecting the environment or between jobs and solving climate change.
The economy of the 21st century will be built on infrastructure powered
by clean energy, and, as Gaylord Nelson once wrote, ``all economic
activity depends upon the . . . air, water, soil, forest, minerals,
wetlands, rivers, lakes, oceans, wildlife habitat, and scenic beauty.''
These, he said, ``are the accumulated capital resources of a nation.
Take them away and what you have left is a wasteland.''
Today, as the world pauses to consider the awe-inspiring power of our
choices, let us reflect on what we stand to lose if we fail to act and
what we stand to gain if we make the commitment to improve the air,
water, and land upon which we depend. It is clear that Earth Day is not
about the next government proclamation or regulation; this day is about
the actions of individuals the amazing power of one person to
accomplish change.
The threats to our planet are global; they are broad and
overwhelming. But they are also very personal. The choices we make
today will shape our world for generations to come. Though it may seem
improbable to suggest that each person has the power to make a change,
in saving our planet and improving our communities, it is certainly
true.
It is estimated that by the year 2050, 40 years from now, the global
population will be 9.4 billion people, adding more strain to our
ecosystems. If personal responsibility for the Earth is truly as simple
as conserving water, choosing public transportation or carpooling
whenever possible, making your home more energy efficient, buying local
sustainably produced food, recycling and reusing goods, there is little
reason for any of us to deny our individual power to bring about
change.
It is all too easy to imagine that the problems people currently face
are a world away--across an ocean, on other continents. It is too easy
to imagine problems such as a lack of clean water, vicious storms, and
insufficient food supplies as not our own. I know that when it comes to
the future of the Earth, the continent that seems so removed could just
as easily be my backyard. On this 40th Earth Day, I am proud to call
Vermont, the Green Mountain State, my home, and Vermont has been a
leader in helping to show the way forward in protecting the Earth.
As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, each of us can
renew our commitment to our planet--our home. We can use our power as
individuals to work together toward a cleaner environment and a
healthier planet. As part of the legacy we leave for our children and
our grandchildren, let them enjoy a society that is secure in its
commitment to a healthy and environmentally sound future. On this 40th
anniversary of Earth Day, while we remember the pioneering spirit of
Gaylord Nelson, we must honor his legacy and continue turning his words
into action.
[[Page S2598]]
Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, today I rise to recognize one of our most
prominent Wisconsinites, Gaylord Nelson, the founder of Earth Day.
On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans paused for a day to celebrate
our planet and press for the urgent actions needed to preserve and
protect it. As we observe this 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day,
we once again reflect on the necessity of a clean and safe environment,
celebrate the successes of the last four decades, and consider the long
way we still must go to achieve the goals laid out that day.
In Wisconsin, we also stop to remember and honor one of our most
prominent citizens.
Earth Day was born out of the passion of Gaylord Nelson. His life was
one of service from the Pacific theater during World War II, to the
State House as a State Senator and Governor, and to Washington, DC
where he served Wisconsin as a U.S. Senator for nearly 20 years.
When Gaylord came to Washington, he did so with a mission to bring
environmental causes to the forefront of the national debate. He
believed that the cause of environmentalism needed as much attention as
national defense. For his first years in the Senate, his cause was
lonely. In 1966, his bill to ban the pesticide DDT garnered no
cosponsors.
Gaylord knew that only with the grassroots support of regular
Americans, could the environmental agenda rise to prominence. His idea
for Earth Day came from the student teach-ins of the 1960s, but his
cause inspired people across boundaries of age, race and location. This
year, more than one billion people around the world will come together
in the same way they did 40 years ago.
In a speech on that historic day in 1970, Gaylord noted that his goal
was not just one of clean air and water, but also ``an environment of
decency, quality and mutual respect for all other human beings and all
other living creatures.'' He told the crowd that America could meet the
challenge through our technology. The unanswered question was, he said,
``Are we willing?''
That question was answered with a resounding yes. That year saw the
creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the
Clean Air Act. In 1972, 6 years after Gaylord Nelson stood alone on his
proposed DDT ban, its use was ended. Later years would bring better
protection of drinking water, emissions and efficiency standards for
cars, programs to cleanup brownfields sites, and the protection and
preservation of our forests, rivers, mountains and oceans.
Despite that progress and I imagine Gaylord would be the first to
note this we still have much work ahead of us. We must use this
anniversary to commit to another environmental decade. The needs of 40
years ago cleaner water, cleaner air, more protection of our lands are
still here, but the next challenge we must face is climate change.
From lower lake levels, to more invasive species, the consequences of
unchecked climate change could be devastating to the people of
Wisconsin. Climate change isn't just a threat, it is also an
opportunity. Structured correctly, the solutions to slowing climate
change can also speed up our economic recovery.
Remarkable research and development is happening today in Wisconsin
on products for cleaner water, advanced battery technology, and using
waste from farms and forests to make advanced biofuels. We have
companies developing products to harness the power of the sun to
replace traditional interior lighting, retrofitting heavy-duty trucks
into hybrids, and manufacturing energy-efficient hot water heaters.
In Congress, legislative work to address climate change is ongoing.
With the right mixture of requirements and incentives, we can achieve a
policy that reduces our dependence on foreign oil, cuts greenhouse gas
emissions, lowers prices at the pump and on the electricity bill, and
creates good-paying jobs that cannot be outsourced.
We do not have to choose between the environment and the economy,
between jobs and solving climate change. Gaylord Nelson made this point
over and over again. He once wrote that ``all economic activity depends
upon the air, water, soil, forest, minerals, wetlands, rivers, lakes,
oceans, wildlife habitats, and scenic beauty.'' These, he said, ``are
the accumulated capital resources of the nation. Take them away and
what you have left is a wasteland.''
On this 40th anniversary of Earth Day, while we remember the
pioneering sprit of Gaylord Nelson, we must honor his legacy by turning
words into action.
Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, 40 years ago, Senator Gaylord Nelson
attempted to bring attention to a degraded environment through a day
dedicated to our planet. On April 22, 1970, environmental issues, as
they are today, were challenging oxygen levels in the Androscoggin
River in my great state of Maine frequently reached zero during the
summer, resulting in the death of nearly all fish and other aquatic
life in the river and carbon monoxide and ozone emissions significantly
degraded our country's air quality. The environmental, economic, and
personal costs of a failure to recognize the benefits of a healthy
environment had reached a tipping point for many American citizens who
demanded action both through greater awareness of personal
environmental decisions and through new public laws. Millions of
Americans, as Senator Nelson said, ``organized themselves'' to not only
protest the degradation of our environment, but also to educate each
other on personal steps to reduce waste, increase recycling, and
together improve the condition of environment around us.
Four decades later, Earth Day serves as a consequential reminder of
what we have achieved since 1970, and what we still have left to
accomplish, especially as we evaluate the current state of our
environment. In that light, on this Earth Day, as the ranking member of
Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, I held a hearing on the
threat of acidification on the largest ecosystems of the world, our
oceans. And while the expert witnesses outlined the daunting hurdles of
this 21st century challenge to our lobster industry and the beautiful
coral reefs of the world, it is encouraging at the same time to reflect
upon the past challenges we've met that seemed insurmountable.
In 1970, there were less than 50 bald eagle nesting pairs in Maine,
today there are at least 477. This extraordinary increase came to
fruition through a combination of the federal banning of DDT and a
concerted effort by Mainers who volunteered to track our sacred
national symbol and conserve its habitat. Furthermore, just last year,
the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and
Wildlife remarkably and thankfully was able to recommend the removal of
the Bald Eagle from Maine's list of Endangered and Threatened Species.
It was a combination of dedicated attention by Mainers as well as
public policies that made this success a reality. And in Maine's iconic
rivers and waterways fish are returning and our air quality has
improved.
Nationally, for nearly 10 years, I have been pleased to join forces
with my good friend and colleague, Senator Dianne Feinstein, to
implement technology available today and raise fuel economy standards
for our Nation's automobile fleet. And finally, in 2007 we passed
legislation that will cut air pollution, reduce our consumption of
foreign oil, and save money at the gas pump which will be of benefit to
everyone, especially those in the rural parts of my state. And earlier
this month, these rules were finalized and will save 1.8 billion
barrels of oil over the life of cars and trucks sold between the 2012
and 2016 model years. This welcomed and long overdue advancement will
reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our vehicles by 21 percent by 2030
and represents the most significant effort so far to combat climate
change.
When we commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in just 10
years from now, let it be said that in 2010, we made great strides in
improving our energy efficiency in our homes and offices, we reduced
the number of miles that we drive on a weekly basis, we mitigated
carbon dioxide emissions, and we reduced the amount of oil we import.
Above all, let us hope we can look back and say we were able to forge
comprehensive energy legislation that spoke not just to our goals for
protecting the environment and harnessing new sources for energy, for
ensuring greater not lesser energy
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independence, but that reflected once again the hallmark vision,
ingenuity, and can-do spirit that have always driven this great land
for whom no task is too daunting and no adversity too steep.
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, earlier today--the 40th Anniversary
of Earth Day--on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, I test drove the
energy-efficient, fuel cell-powered Chevy Cruze.
Across Ohio, next-generation fuel-efficient vehicles are being built.
GM recently announced that its plant in Lordstown, OH--near Youngstown
in Trumball County--would bring back a third shift of workers to the
assembly line to build the Cruze.
Twelve hundred jobs are expected to be created building this new line
of fuel-efficient cars that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil
and reduce the pollution of our air.
Forty years ago, many were hard-pressed to see how environmental and
economic objectives could coexist.
The Cuyahoga River burned in Cleveland and oil spills marred the
beaches of Santa Barbara.
With Lake Erie dying, Americans demanded an end to the polluted air
and water that threatened the public health and safety of our Nation.
Such tragedies served as catalysts that established the Environmental
Protection Agency, EPA, passed the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and
formed a public and political conscience to safeguard our environment.
Today, the Cuyahoga River--41 years after the fire--is cleaner and
healthier; more than 60 different fish species are thriving, and
countless families are again enjoying its natural beauty.
The modern environmental movement was marked by the efforts of
citizens demanding that their government protect our health by
protecting our environment.
Like so many times throughout our Nation's history, citizen activism
served as vehicle for change.
The 1960s, the third progressive era of the 20th century, was defined
by passage of Medicare and Medicaid, the Higher Education Act, the
Voting Rights Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the
Civil Rights Act.
Rachel Carson's 1962 ``Silent Spring'' helped the environmental
movement educate elected officials and industry leaders about threats
to human safety and the importance of environmental sustainability.
U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin persuaded President Kennedy
to raise the importance of the conservation through a 5-day, 11 State
tour in September 1963.
Senator Nelson took the energy of that tour and found it mirrored
across the country in the public's desire for cleaner air and water.
Today, we celebrate Senator Nelson's vision of Earth Day--how his
teach-ins and grassroots plea translated the public's concern for the
environment into political action.
On April 22, 1970, after years of planning, Earth Day activities
stretched from college campuses, to city parks, to community halls
across the country.
That citizen call to action spurred decades worth of environmental
protections that have improved the health of our Nation's air, streams,
lakes, and rivers.
Today, Earth Day is celebrated around the world. And today, our
college campuses are once again spurring our Nation's environmental
innovation.
In northeastern Ohio, Oberlin College built one of the Nation's
first--and at the time the largest--solar-powered building in the
Nation. The college is also working with the city of Oberlin to develop
green spaces and energy efficient living.
Baldwin Wallace has one of the Nation's only academic programs
strictly devoted to sustainability practices.
Case Western is partnering with the Cleveland Foundation to build the
world's first wind turbines in fresh water.
In northwestern Ohio, the University of Toledo's Clean and
Alternative Energy Incubator has helped entrepreneurs and business make
Toledo a national leader in solar energy jobs.
Bowling Green State University has the first and largest commercial
scale wind farm in Ohio and the Midwest.
In Central Ohio, the Ohio State University is partnering with
Battelle and Edison Welding to develop cutting-edge advanced
alternative energy sources.
In southern Ohio, Ohio University is conducting a full-scale wind-
data collection project in Appalachia to identify the best wind-energy
resources within a 2,000-square-mile 7-county region.
And just this week the University of Cincinnati was named one of the
greenest universities in the country.
Across Ohio, from Youngstown State University to Akron University to
the University of Dayton and Stark State Community College, Ohio's
campuses continue to be a breeding ground of innovation.
The activism and expertise of our students and entrepreneurs mark
tremendous progress toward a more sustainable environment.
It is a progress that has led to the largest investment in clean
energy and environmental sustainability in our Nation's history.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is making historic
investments to make our water and sewer systems safer, our clean energy
sources more affordable and available.
And Ohio's history of manufacturing excellence and cutting edge
entrepreneurs is leading the Nation in Recovery Act funds used for
clean energy.
For four decades, the environmental movement has made clear that
without action, we face dangerous consequences. We risk the health of
citizens, the viability of our coastal areas, and the productivity of
our State's farms, forests, and fisheries.
We risk our long-term economic and national security.
Yet no longer do environmental and economic objectives conflict with
each other. No longer do we needlessly pick winners and losers among
regions, workers, and industries.
We have seen how despite our population growing by 50 percent in the
past 40 years and the number of cars on the road having doubled over
that same time, our air is 60 percent cleaner than at the time of the
first Earth day in 1970, all while our economy has grown like no other
in the history of the world.
Done right, our Nation can become energy independent, improve its
global competitiveness, and create new jobs and technologies for our
workforce.
As we plant the seeds for economic growth--for new jobs in new
industries--we are also planting the seeds for a cleaner, more
sustainable environment.
And that is what Earth Day represents--for workers making the Cruze
in Lordstown or activists continuing to push for a cleaner environment.
Earth Day reminds us to call upon our history of innovation and
perseverance to usher in a new era of prosperity for our Nation and
sustainability for our plant.
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise today to mark the 40th anniversary
of Earth Day. Started in 1970 by Wisconsin's Senator Gaylord Nelson as
an environmental teach-in, Earth Day has become a global event. More
than 20 million people participated in the first Earth Day and that
number has grown to over 500 million in 175 countries.
Since the first Earth Day, the United States has made significant
strides in improving the quality of our environment--our air, our
water, our land, and our natural resources. The days of having to turn
on street lights in downtown Pittsburgh at noon because of the
pollution emitted by coal plants, steel mills, and other industries are
long gone.
No longer does the Cuyahoga River in Ohio catch fire due to the
uncontrolled discharge of oil and other pollutants. Long gone too is
the mining of coal and other minerals without regard to the impact on
land or water. And today, one can hike through Yellowstone National
Park or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and hear the howling of wolves,
a species that was almost completely wiped out in the lower 48 States.
These are just a few examples of how our Nation has embraced the
tenants of environmental awareness put forth on that first Earth Day in
1970.
Let me relate to you another story of our Nation's environmental
progress that is a source of particular pride for Pennsylvanians.
Rachel Carson is considered one of the pioneers of the environmental
movement in the United States. Ms. Carson was born in 1907 and grew up
on a small family farm near Springdale in western Pennsylvania,
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went to the Pennsylvania College for Women in Pittsburgh, which later
became Chatham College, and completed her M.A. in zoology at Johns
Hopkins University. She began her career as a biologist with what was
then the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries.
Her seminal work in 1962, Silent Spring, brought to the forefront the
dangers of DDT and other pesticides. DDT was a major cause of decline
in the population of birds of prey, including the peregrine falcon.
Because of the efforts of Ms. Carson and others, DDT was eventually
banned from use in the United States in 1972. Today, peregrine falcons
have returned to much of their former range, including a pair of
falcons that have been nesting on the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection office tower in Harrisburg, which fittingly,
is named the Rachel Carson Building.
Ms. Carson's call to action on the environment was also a driving
force behind a 1972 amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution clearly
articulates the right of Pennsylvania's citizens to clean air, pure
water, and the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and
esthetic values of the environment, and ensuring these rights to
generations yet to come.
The first Earth Day was also a major impetus for our Nation to move
forward with a myriad of Federal legislation--including the Clean Water
Act, Clean Air Act, Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, and the
Endangered Species Act--that provided the regulatory framework for
America to be a world leader in environmental stewardship.
Just as importantly, we have seen since the first Earth Day that
environmental protection can go hand-in-hand with economic growth.
According to US EPA, since 1980, total emissions of six principal air
pollutants--carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic
compounds, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide--decreased by 54
percent.
And during this same period, gross domestic product, GDP, increased
by more than 126 percent while the U.S. population grew by 34 percent,
clearly demonstrating that we can maintain a strong, robust economy
while at the same time protecting and promoting a safe and healthy
environment for all Americans.
Today, as a nation, we need to applaud the accomplishments we have
made since the first Earth Day in improving the quality of our air,
water, and land. But we also need to acknowledge that the task of
protecting our environment is far from complete.
The remaining challenges are many. Nutrient pollution is still a
concern for the Chesapeake Bay and other waterways. Mercury from large
stationary sources still threatens the health of our Nation's
vulnerable population of infants and pregnant woman. And many of our
urban areas still exceed national standards for air quality.
But the most daunting environmental challenge today is climate
change. The scientific evidence about the threat of climate change
cannot be disputed. We must move forward with climate and energy
legislation that will put us on a path that ends our unsustainable
reliance on foreign energy. A path that will create new, clean energy
jobs and that will regain our competitive edge over countries like
China, which is out-investing us and out-innovating us when it comes to
new energy technologies. A path that regains control of our
environment, our economy, and our national security.
Let me close with a quote from Rachel Carson. It goes, ``Those who
contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will
endure as long as life lasts.'' So, as we celebrate Earth Day today,
let us all take a moment to consider the beauty and wonder of the
natural world around us.
And let us use the strength we take away from these moments to
continue to preserve and protect our Nation's rich natural history and
environment for our children and grandchildren. So that future
generations will always have a clean environment, a robust economy, and
a secure Nation.
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent
resolution be agreed to; that a Coburn substitute amendment to the
preamble be agreed to; the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; the
motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening
action or debate, and that any statements relating to the measure be
printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 255) was agreed to.
The amendment (No. 3729) was agreed to, as follows:
Strike the preamble and insert the following:
Whereas Gaylord Nelson, former United States Senator from
Wisconsin, is recognized as one of the leading
environmentalists of the 20th Century who helped launch an
international era of environmental awareness and activism;
Whereas Gaylord Nelson grew up in Clear Lake, Wisconsin,
and rose to national prominence while exemplifying the
progressive values instilled in him;
Whereas Gaylord Nelson served with distinction in the
Wisconsin State Senate from 1949 to 1959, as Governor of the
State of Wisconsin from 1959 to 1963, and in the United
States Senate from 1963 to 1981;
Whereas Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day, which was first
celebrated on April 22, 1970, by 20 million people across the
United States, making the celebration the largest
environmental grassroots event in history at that time;
Whereas Gaylord Nelson called on Americans to hold their
elected officials accountable for protecting their health and
the natural environment on that first Earth Day, an action
which launched the Environmental Decade, an unparalleled
period of legislative and grassroots activity that resulted
in passage of 28 major pieces of environmental legislation
from 1970 to 1980, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean
Water Act, and the National Environmental Education Act;
Whereas Gaylord Nelson was responsible for legislation that
created the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and the St.
Croix Wild and Scenic Riverway and protected other important
Wisconsin and national treasures;
Whereas Gaylord Nelson sponsored legislation to ban
phosphates in household detergents and he worked tirelessly
to ensure clean water and clean air for all Americans;
Whereas in addition to his environmental leadership,
Gaylord Nelson fought for civil rights;
Whereas Gaylord Nelson was a patriot, who as a young
soldier honorably served 46 months in the Armed Forces during
World War II, and then, as Senator, worked to ban the use of
the toxic defoliant Agent Orange;
Whereas, in 1995, Gaylord Nelson was awarded the highest
honor accorded civilians in the United States, the
Presidential Medal of Freedom;
Whereas Gaylord Nelson's legacy includes generations of
Americans who have grown up with an environmental ethic and
an appreciation and understanding of their roles as stewards
of the environment and the planet; and
Whereas Gaylord Nelson was an extraordinary statesman,
public servant, environmentalist, husband, father, and
friend, and who never let disagreement on the issues become
personal or partisan:
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
____________________