    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [April 18, 2002]
    [Pages 630-632]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the President's Environmental Youth Awards Ceremony
    April 18, 2002

        Welcome to the Rose Garden, and thanks for coming. Congratulations
    on what you've done for our country. I know you're proud to be here, and
    I know your moms and dads are proud that you're here too. And I want to
    thank your teachers that are here with you as well. Teaching is a noble
    profession, and we appreciate your care for the country and the future
    of our country. So, welcome. The Rose Garden really is a fitting place
    to honor people who care about our environment. As you can see, it's a
    really beautiful place.
        I want to thank so much the award winners for turning idealism into
    action, for taking a great spirit and love for our country and doing
    something about that spirit and love for our country. Communities are
    better as a result, but as importantly, you're providing a really good
    example of service. You're showing other people that people can make a
    difference in people's lives, and that's really important.
        I want to thank Christie Todd Whitman for being such a great Administrator of the EPA. You
    know, she and I were Governors together. She was the Governor of New
    Jersey, and I was the Governor of Texas. And I got to know her well as a
    great Governor. I knew that when I picked her, she'd be really good at
    this job, and I want to thank her for her service.
        I want to thank the Members of the Congress who are here. We've got
    a Senator here today; Senator Specter is here.
    We're pleased. Zach Wamp and Rob Simmons and Jeff Flake from Tennessee,
    Connecticut, and Arizona, I want to thank you all for coming as well. I
    want to thank the regional administrators of the EPA for being here. I
    want to thank you for your hard work and appreciate your dedication to
    the country.
        You know, America has learned a lot about ourself in the last 7
    months--we really have. We've seen the unity and public spirit of our
    country. We've seen a great good that can come out of a terrible,
    terrible evil. And we've rediscovered the importance of taking a stand,
    of serving something greater than ourself. It's a really important
    lesson of September the 11th, that in order to fight evil, you can do so
    by doing some good.
        I've asked Americans to dedicate 4,000 hours, the equivalent of 2
    years of your lives, to serving your neighbors and your Nation. As part
    of joining the war against terror, dedicate 4,000 hours to help somebody
    or some cause or some community.
        Our winners today have gone a long way toward meeting that goal
    already. I may have to assign you another 4,000 hours here pretty soon.
    [Laughter] You've developed the good habits of service, and you're
    making a big difference in a very important area, and that's our
    Nation's environment.
        Good stewardship begins with the simplest of things. That's what's
    interesting about the environmental movement. What may appear to be a
    small act is really important, cleaning up a park or recycling or
    encouraging people and showing people how to conserve energy. Good
    stewardship means understanding the consequences of our actions and
    convincing others to not needlessly destroy our environment. A good
    steward also understands that we share this

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    Earth with other creatures, and we have a responsibility to provide them
    places to live and areas to roam.
        In serving others, I think you've shown good works don't have to be
    these huge projects. What may seem like a small act when taken alone can
    produce tremendous results when combined with the efforts of others.
        Thirty young Americans are going to receive an award today. And if
    you multiply their works by a hundred or a thousand or a million, you've
    got more than just projects; you've got a movement. When citizens take
    responsibility for our environment, there's no limit for the good they
    can do.
        The Federal Government has got responsibilities, as well, to protect
    the environment. America's experience with environmental protection
    really makes me optimistic about our future. The modern environmental
    movement was born in America, born right here in our country. And we've
    made tremendous progress since its birth.
        Since 1970, we've reduced emissions of six key air pollutants by 29
    percent. That's significant progress, but more significant given the
    fact that our economy grew by more than 160 percent. We've shown that
    you can grow your economy so people can work and, at the same time, be
    better stewards of the environment.
        Some problems such as lead emissions from automobiles have been
    virtually eliminated--1970, that wouldn't have been the case. Kind of
    hard for some of us to remember back to 1970; some of you weren't even
    born. The Administrator and I, we were born then--[laughter]--well, it
    might have been a little bit before then. [Laughter] So we remember. Not
    only do we have a better economy, the world's strongest economy, but we
    have significantly cleaner and healthier air. We've got better water.
    And our land is better protected and better managed and more accessible
    to more Americans.
        And we can do more, and we will do more. We're promoting the
    development of cleaner fuels and new technologies. We're supporting
    conservation efforts in order to use our resources more wisely. We work
    with Congress to improve our laws so more brownfields will be cleaned up
    and redeveloped and more communities can be revitalized. Our clean--our
    Clear Skies Initiative would improve air quality by dramatically cutting
    power emissions--emissions from power plants. Our Global Climate Change
    Initiative commits our Nation to significantly reducing greenhouse gas
    intensity. And last week, I sent to the Senate legislation necessary to
    implement a global treaty to control the worst environmental pollutants,
    in order to reduce air, land, and water pollution around the world. I'm
    confident the Senate will act.
        Stewardship is the calling of Government, and it is the calling of
    every citizen. In my Inaugural Address, I urged Americans to act as
    citizens, not as spectators, in building communities of service and a
    nation of character. You each shown us the way by your own example. I
    hope that in the years ahead you'll never lose the idealism we honor
    today. Your communities need it, and your country needs it.
        And now, I'd like to welcome back Administrator Whitman to highlight
    this year's winners of the Presidential--of the President's
    Environmental Youth Awards. Congratulations.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:25 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House.

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