[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[December 2, 1992]
[Pages 2171-2174]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the President's Environment and 
Conservation Challenge Awards
December 2, 1992

    Thank you all very much. Barbara and I are just delighted to welcome 
everyone to the White House. And let me single out a few 
people. I'll get in trouble on this in this distinguished group, but our 
Cabinet members here: Jim Watkins, who brought our National Energy 
Strategy through the Congress; Manuel Lujan, who's helped expand our 
parks and refuges; Secretary Barbara Franklin, her team's been out there 
pushing

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on the economic benefits of environmental protection. Don Atwood was to 
be here, but I single him out because he and the military brought an 
environmental ethic, I think, to everything from basic training to the 
conduct of a successful military operation halfway around the world in 
Desert Storm. Then our Secretary of Transportation was to be here, Andy 
Card. He's now Secretary of Transition--[laughter]--and as well as 
Secretary of Transportation.
    Let me just say to this distinguished nonpartisan group that I am 
just determined that this transition goes smoothly and go well. And I'm 
absolutely convinced under Andy's leadership it is going well and will 
go well.
    Speaking of nonpartisanship, I salute the Governor of Florida, and 
I'm just delighted that Lawton Chiles is with us, leader in the 
environmental movement; Senator Domenici was to be here--I don't see 
him, but nevertheless; and Congressman Gilchrest; Congressman Porter 
Goss. And I want to reserve a very special thanks for Bill Reilly, our 
able EPA Administrator, in whom I have great confidence, a confidence 
that has been well rewarded, I might say, by an outstanding performance; 
and then for Mike Deland, the key figure here today. He's the Chairman 
of our Council on Environmental Quality, and I believe he's done an 
outstanding job. And so I'm just delighted, Barbara and I are delighted 
to be standing at his side.
    Finally, of course, I want to salute the awards partners for making 
this day possible: Gil Grosvenor of the National Geographic Society, 
Frank Bennack of Hearst, John Johnstone of the Business Roundtable, and 
Kathryn Fuller of the World Wildlife Fund. And I want to thank the 
awards selection committee and especially my old friend Bob Stafford 
who's back in Washington. I'm just delighted to see him, and Gaylord, 
Senator Gaylord Nelson, as well. And most of all I want to send a 
special welcome to the guests of honor, the 9 medal and the 13 citation 
recipients. Congratulations to all, and I look forward to seeing the 
presentations.
    I am not going to make a long-winded speech, because I take the 
Clean Air Act very seriously. [Laughter] I've had a chance, under a very 
different schedule, to do a lot of thinking over the past 3 weeks. And 
let me just share some of your reflections. I hope you'll excuse me if I 
take pride in talking about certain accomplishments. Over the next few 
years I reckon I'll be spending a lot of time in what Teddy Roosevelt 
called the great cathedral of the outdoors, and I can't wait. I'll 
remember what we've tried to do to conserve it, to preserve it, and I am 
very proud of our team's efforts.
    Everyone is and should be, whatever age, interested in the 
environment. And my own conviction, or environmental policy, if you 
will, was born out of the concerns of a President, an outdoorsman, and 
maybe most of all, a grandfather. Our approach signaled a step beyond 
command-and-control regulation toward a more market-oriented, 
decentralized philosophy of environmental action.
    Those who said we posed a false choice between a strong economy and 
a safer environment just didn't get it, just missed the point. We sought 
to achieve both while sacrificing neither. And we combined a pragmatism 
about human nature with an idealism about Mother Nature, an ambitious 
agenda that harnessed the energy of capitalism in the service of the 
environment.
    Now, excuse me, as I say, if I take pride in listing a few 
accomplishments that we pass on to a new generation. The Clean Air Act, 
with the help of Democrats and Republicans on the Hill, we broke 10 
years of congressional gridlock by pushing through the world's most 
protective and cost-effective clean air legislation. And we've already 
proposed or finalized rules that promise to get at 85 percent of the 
pollution reductions that are targeted in this law. [Applause] Reilly's 
clapping for himself, and I don't blame him. [Laughter]
    We won major funding--shifting to environmental programs--increasing 
the EPA's budget, I believe it was almost 50 percent; increasing funding 
for clean energy research and development by 66 percent. We enlisted the 
private sector in the voluntary pollution prevention efforts that are 
reshaping American industries, making us leaner, more efficient, and 
reducing toxic pollution

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by hundreds of millions of pounds a year.
    On the law enforcement front, we broke new ground and old records, 
filing more cases, collecting more penalties, and putting more polluters 
behind bars than every previous administration in history combined. We 
helped make America's great outdoors even greater, securing over a 
billion dollars to expand parks and wetlands and wildlife refuges, 
campgrounds and scenic rivers. We decided to end clear-cutting as a 
standard practice on Federal land. And our America the Beautiful 
initiative has gotten off to a good start with several million new trees 
all across this great country.
    We ensured that America's seas would still be shining, ending ocean 
dumping and sewage sludge, proposing and signing a tough oil pollution 
bill, and imposing a 10-year moratorium on oil and gas leasing over vast 
areas of the really sensitive, the ecologically sensitive coasts. We've 
launched a new generation of clean energy technologies, not only by 
increasing funding for research and development but also by increasing 
incentives for their use. And we've pushed through comprehensive 
national energy legislation--a salute to Jim again--that will guide our 
country into the next century.
    In terms of Federal leadership, we've tripled funding for Federal 
facility cleanups, secured over 100 enforceable cleanup agreements for 
Federal facilities, and signed Executive orders spurring the Federal 
Government to take the lead in increasing energy efficiency, recycling, 
waste reduction, and converting the Federal fleet to alternative fuels.
    Finally, we've insisted that a new world order include a cleaner 
world environment, and we reached over 20 new international 
environmental agreements. Just by way of example, we reduced Poland's 
debt in order to help them fund a new environmental foundation. We also 
launched the center, the Environmental Center in Budapest, to help 
countries in Central and Eastern Europe. We made America the world 
leader in the phaseout of ozone depletion, the ozone-depleting CFC's, 
and we led the way to global bans on driftnet fishing.
    We built environmental cooperation into trade negotiations with 
Mexico. We've expanded the debt-for-nature swaps to protect the rain 
forests in Latin America and created networks for cooperation with Asia. 
And our comprehensive, action-oriented approach to global climate change 
was ratified by the Senate and adopted by the world community.
    At the same time that we renewed our national commitment to the 
environment, we redoubled our efforts to support and encourage people 
like you. Everyone in this room, everyone here today, has demonstrated 
the principles of a new environmentalism. This national environmental 
awards program was established to honor those who honored the 
environment.
    Some here have forged innovative partnerships, environmental 
alliances that are protecting our wetlands, preserving our resources, 
and preparing a new generation of environmental leadership. Others have 
taken the lead in combining sound business with a safer environment, a 
smart new merger between profitability and preservation. And still 
others are pioneers on the frontier of technology, the environmental 
technology, finding ways to remove CFC production from manufacturing or 
reduce pollution while recycling metal scrap. And finally we've got 
recipients here who are cultivating our human resources to conserve our 
natural ones, leaders like Hazel Johnson, who realize that the greening 
of America is truly a grassroots operation, or the Environmental 
Education Program, teaching our children how to care for the great land 
that they will inherit.
    I remember back in July, I was out visiting Sequoia National Park. 
And there was a camp there for inner-city youngsters. It was called 
Pyles Boys Camp. And I remember quoting Teddy Roosevelt, talking about 
the beautiful gifts we received from nature, gifts that we ought, and 
here's the quote, ``ought to hand on as a precious heritage to our 
children and our children's children.'' That heritage is the family 
legacy that all Americans share and share responsibility for. Each of 
you understand President Roosevelt's challenge, and each of you that we 
honor has acted on it. And for that you have our admiration, our 
respect, my own personal gratitude.

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    That is the end. And I now would like to happily turn this over to 
Mike Deland, asking that he hand out the medals. Mike.

[At this point, the awards and citations were presented.]

    Let me just thank you all once again for coming. I don't think it's 
too early to wish you a Merry Christmas. I wish in a sense it were 
Monday because this place will come alive with Christmas trees and 
Christmas lights. And I hope you all have a wonderful one. Thank you.

                    Note: The President spoke at 2:29 p.m. in the East 
                        Room at the White House. In his remarks, he 
                        referred to Deputy Secretary of Defense Donald 
                        J. Atwood, Jr., and former Senators Robert T. 
                        Stafford and Gaylord Nelson.