senator gaylord nelson's speech april 14, 1970...
TRANSCRIPT
SENATOR GAYLORD NELSONS SPEECH
April 14 1970
Earth Day
bull
SENATOR NELSON Mr Speaker members of the House distinguished
gu~stsand friendsIam honored to be privileged to visit with you this
morning in this lovely legislative chamber which I am sure has no
peer in terms of beauty of any other legislative body chamber in this
country
Thi9 is the first chance I have had to visit with a legislative
body in chambers since I left the GoveTnor office in Wisconsin I
am honored to have had the opportwlity to appear I Night say that
the Speaker perh2ps understandably ~~ not femiliar with the political
history of the State of Hisconsin suffciently to recogntze th~ in
1946 p when I ran for office there were t vo branches of the Republiccm
Party One ~as the LaFollete progressive branca Hhich was my b-cnch
and the other was the Republican branch and the parties backed ~ in
this fashion The Democratic Party was reactionarYt the Republican Party
was conservative the Progressive Republican Party was liberal tfuen
we lost that we took over the Detn)crat~ Party and made a reasonable
organi~ation out of it
I must confess howevar in all fairne68 that my great grandfathe r
walkod all the l18y from his farm in Waupaca County lOO milen to I
(NELSON Continued
Ripon Wisconsin ir 1855 to found another pgrty which I shall rema in
nameless for purpoGcs of this nonpartisan gathering here this morning
It is ~ pleacure to be here in the State of Gifford finchot one
of thlt hJlf-doz2n 0 the most perceptive conserv~tionists in the history
of this country I am pleasec to come in to you for passing today a
an resolution proposingamendmEnt to your constitution respecting the
right to a clean environment It is a sound ~nd dramatic step in the
right way and emph[l s izes some thing thn t we have negleGted fur fl )_ong
time ~nd that is thot we have Cl right to a clean enviromn2nt lt--11 that
we should stop t-ecognizing formlt1l1y the right of people to ro1iute
the environment
As I reampd the legislative proposals which are pending hefore both
Houses of this l~gis le-ture I would conclude from what I know 8 h rmt
the what is going on inlegislatures around the nation thot this ~egisl3ture
is camprrying the banner in leading the nation in the kind of constructive
and creative legislatioN which is necess~ry to consider and ena~L in all
the 50 States
It is not only the Federal Government which has H role to play in
the environmental field There is a very significant al1d necessary role f
(NELSON Continued)
to be playec by the lcgisLture and I cOTlhllend the members and the
lc~dershin of both noliticzl p~rties for their bipartisan and important
effort middottn tll~ clir0ction _ wnrlt to corlffi0nd you JS the first State to
set Clsi ile 1 ~~y tn hich you consider to dedic8te your energies
and discussion to the status o~ the I2nvironILlent which I think is the
most critical L3U~~ vl~licL f~ ces the nation and vhich f a ces the ~orld
Ecology is 2 b~~ science 8 big conc~pt not a narrow one ~t is
concerned with 211 rnrnific~tions of ~ll the relationships
the li-vng creFltures to each othel ~i-ld the ir Enviromaent It is
corcerne0 vitil the tot-l ccosystem D not just hmv- -le ltlispose of our
tin cans our bottJes nnd our garb8ge I t is concerned with the habitat
of marine crclt1tures ll1imal~ birds [Inc rlan Our goa 1 is jus t not
an environment of clcan air 5nd cle~n wnter and scenic beauty ~~ile
forgetting auout the A ppRlachias and the ghettos lhere our citizens
live in Americ~s wor~t environment Our goal is an environrr~nt of
decency quality md mutual respect fOl- all other human beings Clnd all
other living crea tures tan environment lolithout ugliness without
ghettos without di5crimination vlithout hunger without poverty lolithout
war Our goal is a decent environment in its broadest and deepest sense I
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(NELSO~ Continued)
Winning the environmental war in a -hole lot tougher challenge by felr
than winning any other war in history of man
We could denninate our involver1ent in Laos in 30 days--and I think
we should--and we could stop our involvement in the killings of Vietnam
very shortly- - and l think lC should But wish for it work for it fight
fOL it commit unlimited resources tOvlard it nevertheles~ J
the battle
to restore a prOPer relationship between man and his environment between
man and other living creatures will require a long sustained political
rural ethical and financial commitment far beyond any effort we ever
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made before in any enterprise in the history of man
Are we able Yes I think so Are ve ltlilling That is the
unanswered question
I tolould just like to explore some of thephys ical aspects c the
problem I think you can divide it into the physical aspects and the
philosophical aspects and you may not logically separate one from the
other but because of the UmitC_tiona of time I will address nsectlself
in the means of the physical aspects of what seem to me to be the major
en~ironment8l problems which confront us
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but I do not do that to the exclusion of the philosophical aspects
which probably are most important since we will not determine to do
what must be done in reforming our institutions our way of life our
attitudes toward our environment until we have a philosophical
change first
Let us look at the big picture for a moment We have a tendency
to consider that we live on a planet of unlimited space and unlimited
resources It is not so We live on a finite planet with finite
resources This planet has a limited capacity to sustain life It
has a Itm1ted thin envelope of air amp~vUMd it which is subject to
pollution and betng rapidly polluted ~~orldwide We have u thiil
coating of productive topaoil and a very limited amount of space on
earth and it middot has a limited productive capacity We have a limited
tllllOunt of minerals and resources which can be used in our industril1l
and technological society and acme day they will be cyJulusted
~ We have A limited ampmOunt of water scenic beauty wilderness
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and forests Let me 8ampy 30~0thing about water which is one we aLe
most familiar uith that ~nd air since we deal with it avery day I )
1-1 __ - -Wly ~~ngLe r~aource and say it is most
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important to the exclusion of all others they are all critically
important Let us look at water Water is the lifeblood of the
whole ecosystem Pollute the water and you corrupt the whole system
In this country we have available about 600 billion gallons of water
that we can use daily that is if we capture what comes out of the
atmosphere f~ ~ capture
from the underground aquifers without depleting
them That resource is about 600 billion gallons per day We are
using 375 billion gallons a day We will reach 600 billion gallons of
consumpti~n in the yeer 1980 or thereampbouts We will 30 years from
nm be using approximately 1200 billion gallons of Jater l day which J
is twice the national supply rnat means that on the average all
water will be used twice But fe do not live )here in the east or in
that mjor m~tropolitGn complex arounci the southern tip of Lake
Michigan or on the west coast) tn an area that is average In these
areas of many dense populations we will be using water five 10 15
20 perhaps 30 timas If it is dtrty middotHa ter and we have to extr t1ct it
from undarground or rivers or lakes and launder it and roturn it dirty
and do thAt 10 or 15 or 20 times we get some idea of the immeasurable
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cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
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of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
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research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
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must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
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We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
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is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
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Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
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We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
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Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
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I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
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the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
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should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
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policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
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that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
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great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
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we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
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(NELSON Continued)
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We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
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and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
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(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
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$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
SENATOR NELSON Mr Speaker members of the House distinguished
gu~stsand friendsIam honored to be privileged to visit with you this
morning in this lovely legislative chamber which I am sure has no
peer in terms of beauty of any other legislative body chamber in this
country
Thi9 is the first chance I have had to visit with a legislative
body in chambers since I left the GoveTnor office in Wisconsin I
am honored to have had the opportwlity to appear I Night say that
the Speaker perh2ps understandably ~~ not femiliar with the political
history of the State of Hisconsin suffciently to recogntze th~ in
1946 p when I ran for office there were t vo branches of the Republiccm
Party One ~as the LaFollete progressive branca Hhich was my b-cnch
and the other was the Republican branch and the parties backed ~ in
this fashion The Democratic Party was reactionarYt the Republican Party
was conservative the Progressive Republican Party was liberal tfuen
we lost that we took over the Detn)crat~ Party and made a reasonable
organi~ation out of it
I must confess howevar in all fairne68 that my great grandfathe r
walkod all the l18y from his farm in Waupaca County lOO milen to I
(NELSON Continued
Ripon Wisconsin ir 1855 to found another pgrty which I shall rema in
nameless for purpoGcs of this nonpartisan gathering here this morning
It is ~ pleacure to be here in the State of Gifford finchot one
of thlt hJlf-doz2n 0 the most perceptive conserv~tionists in the history
of this country I am pleasec to come in to you for passing today a
an resolution proposingamendmEnt to your constitution respecting the
right to a clean environment It is a sound ~nd dramatic step in the
right way and emph[l s izes some thing thn t we have negleGted fur fl )_ong
time ~nd that is thot we have Cl right to a clean enviromn2nt lt--11 that
we should stop t-ecognizing formlt1l1y the right of people to ro1iute
the environment
As I reampd the legislative proposals which are pending hefore both
Houses of this l~gis le-ture I would conclude from what I know 8 h rmt
the what is going on inlegislatures around the nation thot this ~egisl3ture
is camprrying the banner in leading the nation in the kind of constructive
and creative legislatioN which is necess~ry to consider and ena~L in all
the 50 States
It is not only the Federal Government which has H role to play in
the environmental field There is a very significant al1d necessary role f
(NELSON Continued)
to be playec by the lcgisLture and I cOTlhllend the members and the
lc~dershin of both noliticzl p~rties for their bipartisan and important
effort middottn tll~ clir0ction _ wnrlt to corlffi0nd you JS the first State to
set Clsi ile 1 ~~y tn hich you consider to dedic8te your energies
and discussion to the status o~ the I2nvironILlent which I think is the
most critical L3U~~ vl~licL f~ ces the nation and vhich f a ces the ~orld
Ecology is 2 b~~ science 8 big conc~pt not a narrow one ~t is
concerned with 211 rnrnific~tions of ~ll the relationships
the li-vng creFltures to each othel ~i-ld the ir Enviromaent It is
corcerne0 vitil the tot-l ccosystem D not just hmv- -le ltlispose of our
tin cans our bottJes nnd our garb8ge I t is concerned with the habitat
of marine crclt1tures ll1imal~ birds [Inc rlan Our goa 1 is jus t not
an environment of clcan air 5nd cle~n wnter and scenic beauty ~~ile
forgetting auout the A ppRlachias and the ghettos lhere our citizens
live in Americ~s wor~t environment Our goal is an environrr~nt of
decency quality md mutual respect fOl- all other human beings Clnd all
other living crea tures tan environment lolithout ugliness without
ghettos without di5crimination vlithout hunger without poverty lolithout
war Our goal is a decent environment in its broadest and deepest sense I
- -~---
(NELSO~ Continued)
Winning the environmental war in a -hole lot tougher challenge by felr
than winning any other war in history of man
We could denninate our involver1ent in Laos in 30 days--and I think
we should--and we could stop our involvement in the killings of Vietnam
very shortly- - and l think lC should But wish for it work for it fight
fOL it commit unlimited resources tOvlard it nevertheles~ J
the battle
to restore a prOPer relationship between man and his environment between
man and other living creatures will require a long sustained political
rural ethical and financial commitment far beyond any effort we ever
=-=
made before in any enterprise in the history of man
Are we able Yes I think so Are ve ltlilling That is the
unanswered question
I tolould just like to explore some of thephys ical aspects c the
problem I think you can divide it into the physical aspects and the
philosophical aspects and you may not logically separate one from the
other but because of the UmitC_tiona of time I will address nsectlself
in the means of the physical aspects of what seem to me to be the major
en~ironment8l problems which confront us
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but I do not do that to the exclusion of the philosophical aspects
which probably are most important since we will not determine to do
what must be done in reforming our institutions our way of life our
attitudes toward our environment until we have a philosophical
change first
Let us look at the big picture for a moment We have a tendency
to consider that we live on a planet of unlimited space and unlimited
resources It is not so We live on a finite planet with finite
resources This planet has a limited capacity to sustain life It
has a Itm1ted thin envelope of air amp~vUMd it which is subject to
pollution and betng rapidly polluted ~~orldwide We have u thiil
coating of productive topaoil and a very limited amount of space on
earth and it middot has a limited productive capacity We have a limited
tllllOunt of minerals and resources which can be used in our industril1l
and technological society and acme day they will be cyJulusted
~ We have A limited ampmOunt of water scenic beauty wilderness
d If
and forests Let me 8ampy 30~0thing about water which is one we aLe
most familiar uith that ~nd air since we deal with it avery day I )
1-1 __ - -Wly ~~ngLe r~aource and say it is most
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important to the exclusion of all others they are all critically
important Let us look at water Water is the lifeblood of the
whole ecosystem Pollute the water and you corrupt the whole system
In this country we have available about 600 billion gallons of water
that we can use daily that is if we capture what comes out of the
atmosphere f~ ~ capture
from the underground aquifers without depleting
them That resource is about 600 billion gallons per day We are
using 375 billion gallons a day We will reach 600 billion gallons of
consumpti~n in the yeer 1980 or thereampbouts We will 30 years from
nm be using approximately 1200 billion gallons of Jater l day which J
is twice the national supply rnat means that on the average all
water will be used twice But fe do not live )here in the east or in
that mjor m~tropolitGn complex arounci the southern tip of Lake
Michigan or on the west coast) tn an area that is average In these
areas of many dense populations we will be using water five 10 15
20 perhaps 30 timas If it is dtrty middotHa ter and we have to extr t1ct it
from undarground or rivers or lakes and launder it and roturn it dirty
and do thAt 10 or 15 or 20 times we get some idea of the immeasurable
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cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
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must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
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We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
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Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
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I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
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should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
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policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
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that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
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we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
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rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
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t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
1946 p when I ran for office there were t vo branches of the Republiccm
Party One ~as the LaFollete progressive branca Hhich was my b-cnch
and the other was the Republican branch and the parties backed ~ in
this fashion The Democratic Party was reactionarYt the Republican Party
was conservative the Progressive Republican Party was liberal tfuen
we lost that we took over the Detn)crat~ Party and made a reasonable
organi~ation out of it
I must confess howevar in all fairne68 that my great grandfathe r
walkod all the l18y from his farm in Waupaca County lOO milen to I
(NELSON Continued
Ripon Wisconsin ir 1855 to found another pgrty which I shall rema in
nameless for purpoGcs of this nonpartisan gathering here this morning
It is ~ pleacure to be here in the State of Gifford finchot one
of thlt hJlf-doz2n 0 the most perceptive conserv~tionists in the history
of this country I am pleasec to come in to you for passing today a
an resolution proposingamendmEnt to your constitution respecting the
right to a clean environment It is a sound ~nd dramatic step in the
right way and emph[l s izes some thing thn t we have negleGted fur fl )_ong
time ~nd that is thot we have Cl right to a clean enviromn2nt lt--11 that
we should stop t-ecognizing formlt1l1y the right of people to ro1iute
the environment
As I reampd the legislative proposals which are pending hefore both
Houses of this l~gis le-ture I would conclude from what I know 8 h rmt
the what is going on inlegislatures around the nation thot this ~egisl3ture
is camprrying the banner in leading the nation in the kind of constructive
and creative legislatioN which is necess~ry to consider and ena~L in all
the 50 States
It is not only the Federal Government which has H role to play in
the environmental field There is a very significant al1d necessary role f
(NELSON Continued)
to be playec by the lcgisLture and I cOTlhllend the members and the
lc~dershin of both noliticzl p~rties for their bipartisan and important
effort middottn tll~ clir0ction _ wnrlt to corlffi0nd you JS the first State to
set Clsi ile 1 ~~y tn hich you consider to dedic8te your energies
and discussion to the status o~ the I2nvironILlent which I think is the
most critical L3U~~ vl~licL f~ ces the nation and vhich f a ces the ~orld
Ecology is 2 b~~ science 8 big conc~pt not a narrow one ~t is
concerned with 211 rnrnific~tions of ~ll the relationships
the li-vng creFltures to each othel ~i-ld the ir Enviromaent It is
corcerne0 vitil the tot-l ccosystem D not just hmv- -le ltlispose of our
tin cans our bottJes nnd our garb8ge I t is concerned with the habitat
of marine crclt1tures ll1imal~ birds [Inc rlan Our goa 1 is jus t not
an environment of clcan air 5nd cle~n wnter and scenic beauty ~~ile
forgetting auout the A ppRlachias and the ghettos lhere our citizens
live in Americ~s wor~t environment Our goal is an environrr~nt of
decency quality md mutual respect fOl- all other human beings Clnd all
other living crea tures tan environment lolithout ugliness without
ghettos without di5crimination vlithout hunger without poverty lolithout
war Our goal is a decent environment in its broadest and deepest sense I
- -~---
(NELSO~ Continued)
Winning the environmental war in a -hole lot tougher challenge by felr
than winning any other war in history of man
We could denninate our involver1ent in Laos in 30 days--and I think
we should--and we could stop our involvement in the killings of Vietnam
very shortly- - and l think lC should But wish for it work for it fight
fOL it commit unlimited resources tOvlard it nevertheles~ J
the battle
to restore a prOPer relationship between man and his environment between
man and other living creatures will require a long sustained political
rural ethical and financial commitment far beyond any effort we ever
=-=
made before in any enterprise in the history of man
Are we able Yes I think so Are ve ltlilling That is the
unanswered question
I tolould just like to explore some of thephys ical aspects c the
problem I think you can divide it into the physical aspects and the
philosophical aspects and you may not logically separate one from the
other but because of the UmitC_tiona of time I will address nsectlself
in the means of the physical aspects of what seem to me to be the major
en~ironment8l problems which confront us
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but I do not do that to the exclusion of the philosophical aspects
which probably are most important since we will not determine to do
what must be done in reforming our institutions our way of life our
attitudes toward our environment until we have a philosophical
change first
Let us look at the big picture for a moment We have a tendency
to consider that we live on a planet of unlimited space and unlimited
resources It is not so We live on a finite planet with finite
resources This planet has a limited capacity to sustain life It
has a Itm1ted thin envelope of air amp~vUMd it which is subject to
pollution and betng rapidly polluted ~~orldwide We have u thiil
coating of productive topaoil and a very limited amount of space on
earth and it middot has a limited productive capacity We have a limited
tllllOunt of minerals and resources which can be used in our industril1l
and technological society and acme day they will be cyJulusted
~ We have A limited ampmOunt of water scenic beauty wilderness
d If
and forests Let me 8ampy 30~0thing about water which is one we aLe
most familiar uith that ~nd air since we deal with it avery day I )
1-1 __ - -Wly ~~ngLe r~aource and say it is most
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important to the exclusion of all others they are all critically
important Let us look at water Water is the lifeblood of the
whole ecosystem Pollute the water and you corrupt the whole system
In this country we have available about 600 billion gallons of water
that we can use daily that is if we capture what comes out of the
atmosphere f~ ~ capture
from the underground aquifers without depleting
them That resource is about 600 billion gallons per day We are
using 375 billion gallons a day We will reach 600 billion gallons of
consumpti~n in the yeer 1980 or thereampbouts We will 30 years from
nm be using approximately 1200 billion gallons of Jater l day which J
is twice the national supply rnat means that on the average all
water will be used twice But fe do not live )here in the east or in
that mjor m~tropolitGn complex arounci the southern tip of Lake
Michigan or on the west coast) tn an area that is average In these
areas of many dense populations we will be using water five 10 15
20 perhaps 30 timas If it is dtrty middotHa ter and we have to extr t1ct it
from undarground or rivers or lakes and launder it and roturn it dirty
and do thAt 10 or 15 or 20 times we get some idea of the immeasurable
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cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
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must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
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We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
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Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
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policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
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that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
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great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
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we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
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rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
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(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
(NELSON Continued
Ripon Wisconsin ir 1855 to found another pgrty which I shall rema in
nameless for purpoGcs of this nonpartisan gathering here this morning
It is ~ pleacure to be here in the State of Gifford finchot one
of thlt hJlf-doz2n 0 the most perceptive conserv~tionists in the history
of this country I am pleasec to come in to you for passing today a
an resolution proposingamendmEnt to your constitution respecting the
right to a clean environment It is a sound ~nd dramatic step in the
right way and emph[l s izes some thing thn t we have negleGted fur fl )_ong
time ~nd that is thot we have Cl right to a clean enviromn2nt lt--11 that
we should stop t-ecognizing formlt1l1y the right of people to ro1iute
the environment
As I reampd the legislative proposals which are pending hefore both
Houses of this l~gis le-ture I would conclude from what I know 8 h rmt
the what is going on inlegislatures around the nation thot this ~egisl3ture
is camprrying the banner in leading the nation in the kind of constructive
and creative legislatioN which is necess~ry to consider and ena~L in all
the 50 States
It is not only the Federal Government which has H role to play in
the environmental field There is a very significant al1d necessary role f
(NELSON Continued)
to be playec by the lcgisLture and I cOTlhllend the members and the
lc~dershin of both noliticzl p~rties for their bipartisan and important
effort middottn tll~ clir0ction _ wnrlt to corlffi0nd you JS the first State to
set Clsi ile 1 ~~y tn hich you consider to dedic8te your energies
and discussion to the status o~ the I2nvironILlent which I think is the
most critical L3U~~ vl~licL f~ ces the nation and vhich f a ces the ~orld
Ecology is 2 b~~ science 8 big conc~pt not a narrow one ~t is
concerned with 211 rnrnific~tions of ~ll the relationships
the li-vng creFltures to each othel ~i-ld the ir Enviromaent It is
corcerne0 vitil the tot-l ccosystem D not just hmv- -le ltlispose of our
tin cans our bottJes nnd our garb8ge I t is concerned with the habitat
of marine crclt1tures ll1imal~ birds [Inc rlan Our goa 1 is jus t not
an environment of clcan air 5nd cle~n wnter and scenic beauty ~~ile
forgetting auout the A ppRlachias and the ghettos lhere our citizens
live in Americ~s wor~t environment Our goal is an environrr~nt of
decency quality md mutual respect fOl- all other human beings Clnd all
other living crea tures tan environment lolithout ugliness without
ghettos without di5crimination vlithout hunger without poverty lolithout
war Our goal is a decent environment in its broadest and deepest sense I
- -~---
(NELSO~ Continued)
Winning the environmental war in a -hole lot tougher challenge by felr
than winning any other war in history of man
We could denninate our involver1ent in Laos in 30 days--and I think
we should--and we could stop our involvement in the killings of Vietnam
very shortly- - and l think lC should But wish for it work for it fight
fOL it commit unlimited resources tOvlard it nevertheles~ J
the battle
to restore a prOPer relationship between man and his environment between
man and other living creatures will require a long sustained political
rural ethical and financial commitment far beyond any effort we ever
=-=
made before in any enterprise in the history of man
Are we able Yes I think so Are ve ltlilling That is the
unanswered question
I tolould just like to explore some of thephys ical aspects c the
problem I think you can divide it into the physical aspects and the
philosophical aspects and you may not logically separate one from the
other but because of the UmitC_tiona of time I will address nsectlself
in the means of the physical aspects of what seem to me to be the major
en~ironment8l problems which confront us
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but I do not do that to the exclusion of the philosophical aspects
which probably are most important since we will not determine to do
what must be done in reforming our institutions our way of life our
attitudes toward our environment until we have a philosophical
change first
Let us look at the big picture for a moment We have a tendency
to consider that we live on a planet of unlimited space and unlimited
resources It is not so We live on a finite planet with finite
resources This planet has a limited capacity to sustain life It
has a Itm1ted thin envelope of air amp~vUMd it which is subject to
pollution and betng rapidly polluted ~~orldwide We have u thiil
coating of productive topaoil and a very limited amount of space on
earth and it middot has a limited productive capacity We have a limited
tllllOunt of minerals and resources which can be used in our industril1l
and technological society and acme day they will be cyJulusted
~ We have A limited ampmOunt of water scenic beauty wilderness
d If
and forests Let me 8ampy 30~0thing about water which is one we aLe
most familiar uith that ~nd air since we deal with it avery day I )
1-1 __ - -Wly ~~ngLe r~aource and say it is most
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important to the exclusion of all others they are all critically
important Let us look at water Water is the lifeblood of the
whole ecosystem Pollute the water and you corrupt the whole system
In this country we have available about 600 billion gallons of water
that we can use daily that is if we capture what comes out of the
atmosphere f~ ~ capture
from the underground aquifers without depleting
them That resource is about 600 billion gallons per day We are
using 375 billion gallons a day We will reach 600 billion gallons of
consumpti~n in the yeer 1980 or thereampbouts We will 30 years from
nm be using approximately 1200 billion gallons of Jater l day which J
is twice the national supply rnat means that on the average all
water will be used twice But fe do not live )here in the east or in
that mjor m~tropolitGn complex arounci the southern tip of Lake
Michigan or on the west coast) tn an area that is average In these
areas of many dense populations we will be using water five 10 15
20 perhaps 30 timas If it is dtrty middotHa ter and we have to extr t1ct it
from undarground or rivers or lakes and launder it and roturn it dirty
and do thAt 10 or 15 or 20 times we get some idea of the immeasurable
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cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
i I
i bull i i
i I I i I ~
I I
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must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
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We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
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-_ __
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policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
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l
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that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
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we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
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rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
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t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
we should stop t-ecognizing formlt1l1y the right of people to ro1iute
the environment
As I reampd the legislative proposals which are pending hefore both
Houses of this l~gis le-ture I would conclude from what I know 8 h rmt
the what is going on inlegislatures around the nation thot this ~egisl3ture
is camprrying the banner in leading the nation in the kind of constructive
and creative legislatioN which is necess~ry to consider and ena~L in all
the 50 States
It is not only the Federal Government which has H role to play in
the environmental field There is a very significant al1d necessary role f
(NELSON Continued)
to be playec by the lcgisLture and I cOTlhllend the members and the
lc~dershin of both noliticzl p~rties for their bipartisan and important
effort middottn tll~ clir0ction _ wnrlt to corlffi0nd you JS the first State to
set Clsi ile 1 ~~y tn hich you consider to dedic8te your energies
and discussion to the status o~ the I2nvironILlent which I think is the
most critical L3U~~ vl~licL f~ ces the nation and vhich f a ces the ~orld
Ecology is 2 b~~ science 8 big conc~pt not a narrow one ~t is
concerned with 211 rnrnific~tions of ~ll the relationships
the li-vng creFltures to each othel ~i-ld the ir Enviromaent It is
corcerne0 vitil the tot-l ccosystem D not just hmv- -le ltlispose of our
tin cans our bottJes nnd our garb8ge I t is concerned with the habitat
of marine crclt1tures ll1imal~ birds [Inc rlan Our goa 1 is jus t not
an environment of clcan air 5nd cle~n wnter and scenic beauty ~~ile
forgetting auout the A ppRlachias and the ghettos lhere our citizens
live in Americ~s wor~t environment Our goal is an environrr~nt of
decency quality md mutual respect fOl- all other human beings Clnd all
other living crea tures tan environment lolithout ugliness without
ghettos without di5crimination vlithout hunger without poverty lolithout
war Our goal is a decent environment in its broadest and deepest sense I
- -~---
(NELSO~ Continued)
Winning the environmental war in a -hole lot tougher challenge by felr
than winning any other war in history of man
We could denninate our involver1ent in Laos in 30 days--and I think
we should--and we could stop our involvement in the killings of Vietnam
very shortly- - and l think lC should But wish for it work for it fight
fOL it commit unlimited resources tOvlard it nevertheles~ J
the battle
to restore a prOPer relationship between man and his environment between
man and other living creatures will require a long sustained political
rural ethical and financial commitment far beyond any effort we ever
=-=
made before in any enterprise in the history of man
Are we able Yes I think so Are ve ltlilling That is the
unanswered question
I tolould just like to explore some of thephys ical aspects c the
problem I think you can divide it into the physical aspects and the
philosophical aspects and you may not logically separate one from the
other but because of the UmitC_tiona of time I will address nsectlself
in the means of the physical aspects of what seem to me to be the major
en~ironment8l problems which confront us
shyt
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f
but I do not do that to the exclusion of the philosophical aspects
which probably are most important since we will not determine to do
what must be done in reforming our institutions our way of life our
attitudes toward our environment until we have a philosophical
change first
Let us look at the big picture for a moment We have a tendency
to consider that we live on a planet of unlimited space and unlimited
resources It is not so We live on a finite planet with finite
resources This planet has a limited capacity to sustain life It
has a Itm1ted thin envelope of air amp~vUMd it which is subject to
pollution and betng rapidly polluted ~~orldwide We have u thiil
coating of productive topaoil and a very limited amount of space on
earth and it middot has a limited productive capacity We have a limited
tllllOunt of minerals and resources which can be used in our industril1l
and technological society and acme day they will be cyJulusted
~ We have A limited ampmOunt of water scenic beauty wilderness
d If
and forests Let me 8ampy 30~0thing about water which is one we aLe
most familiar uith that ~nd air since we deal with it avery day I )
1-1 __ - -Wly ~~ngLe r~aource and say it is most
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important to the exclusion of all others they are all critically
important Let us look at water Water is the lifeblood of the
whole ecosystem Pollute the water and you corrupt the whole system
In this country we have available about 600 billion gallons of water
that we can use daily that is if we capture what comes out of the
atmosphere f~ ~ capture
from the underground aquifers without depleting
them That resource is about 600 billion gallons per day We are
using 375 billion gallons a day We will reach 600 billion gallons of
consumpti~n in the yeer 1980 or thereampbouts We will 30 years from
nm be using approximately 1200 billion gallons of Jater l day which J
is twice the national supply rnat means that on the average all
water will be used twice But fe do not live )here in the east or in
that mjor m~tropolitGn complex arounci the southern tip of Lake
Michigan or on the west coast) tn an area that is average In these
areas of many dense populations we will be using water five 10 15
20 perhaps 30 timas If it is dtrty middotHa ter and we have to extr t1ct it
from undarground or rivers or lakes and launder it and roturn it dirty
and do thAt 10 or 15 or 20 times we get some idea of the immeasurable
t
I ~ i I
cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
i I
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i I I i I ~
I I
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must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
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We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
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I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
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l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
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I
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we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
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rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
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t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
(NELSON Continued)
to be playec by the lcgisLture and I cOTlhllend the members and the
lc~dershin of both noliticzl p~rties for their bipartisan and important
effort middottn tll~ clir0ction _ wnrlt to corlffi0nd you JS the first State to
set Clsi ile 1 ~~y tn hich you consider to dedic8te your energies
and discussion to the status o~ the I2nvironILlent which I think is the
most critical L3U~~ vl~licL f~ ces the nation and vhich f a ces the ~orld
Ecology is 2 b~~ science 8 big conc~pt not a narrow one ~t is
concerned with 211 rnrnific~tions of ~ll the relationships
the li-vng creFltures to each othel ~i-ld the ir Enviromaent It is
corcerne0 vitil the tot-l ccosystem D not just hmv- -le ltlispose of our
tin cans our bottJes nnd our garb8ge I t is concerned with the habitat
of marine crclt1tures ll1imal~ birds [Inc rlan Our goa 1 is jus t not
an environment of clcan air 5nd cle~n wnter and scenic beauty ~~ile
forgetting auout the A ppRlachias and the ghettos lhere our citizens
live in Americ~s wor~t environment Our goal is an environrr~nt of
decency quality md mutual respect fOl- all other human beings Clnd all
other living crea tures tan environment lolithout ugliness without
ghettos without di5crimination vlithout hunger without poverty lolithout
war Our goal is a decent environment in its broadest and deepest sense I
- -~---
(NELSO~ Continued)
Winning the environmental war in a -hole lot tougher challenge by felr
than winning any other war in history of man
We could denninate our involver1ent in Laos in 30 days--and I think
we should--and we could stop our involvement in the killings of Vietnam
very shortly- - and l think lC should But wish for it work for it fight
fOL it commit unlimited resources tOvlard it nevertheles~ J
the battle
to restore a prOPer relationship between man and his environment between
man and other living creatures will require a long sustained political
rural ethical and financial commitment far beyond any effort we ever
=-=
made before in any enterprise in the history of man
Are we able Yes I think so Are ve ltlilling That is the
unanswered question
I tolould just like to explore some of thephys ical aspects c the
problem I think you can divide it into the physical aspects and the
philosophical aspects and you may not logically separate one from the
other but because of the UmitC_tiona of time I will address nsectlself
in the means of the physical aspects of what seem to me to be the major
en~ironment8l problems which confront us
shyt
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but I do not do that to the exclusion of the philosophical aspects
which probably are most important since we will not determine to do
what must be done in reforming our institutions our way of life our
attitudes toward our environment until we have a philosophical
change first
Let us look at the big picture for a moment We have a tendency
to consider that we live on a planet of unlimited space and unlimited
resources It is not so We live on a finite planet with finite
resources This planet has a limited capacity to sustain life It
has a Itm1ted thin envelope of air amp~vUMd it which is subject to
pollution and betng rapidly polluted ~~orldwide We have u thiil
coating of productive topaoil and a very limited amount of space on
earth and it middot has a limited productive capacity We have a limited
tllllOunt of minerals and resources which can be used in our industril1l
and technological society and acme day they will be cyJulusted
~ We have A limited ampmOunt of water scenic beauty wilderness
d If
and forests Let me 8ampy 30~0thing about water which is one we aLe
most familiar uith that ~nd air since we deal with it avery day I )
1-1 __ - -Wly ~~ngLe r~aource and say it is most
I
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important to the exclusion of all others they are all critically
important Let us look at water Water is the lifeblood of the
whole ecosystem Pollute the water and you corrupt the whole system
In this country we have available about 600 billion gallons of water
that we can use daily that is if we capture what comes out of the
atmosphere f~ ~ capture
from the underground aquifers without depleting
them That resource is about 600 billion gallons per day We are
using 375 billion gallons a day We will reach 600 billion gallons of
consumpti~n in the yeer 1980 or thereampbouts We will 30 years from
nm be using approximately 1200 billion gallons of Jater l day which J
is twice the national supply rnat means that on the average all
water will be used twice But fe do not live )here in the east or in
that mjor m~tropolitGn complex arounci the southern tip of Lake
Michigan or on the west coast) tn an area that is average In these
areas of many dense populations we will be using water five 10 15
20 perhaps 30 timas If it is dtrty middotHa ter and we have to extr t1ct it
from undarground or rivers or lakes and launder it and roturn it dirty
and do thAt 10 or 15 or 20 times we get some idea of the immeasurable
t
I ~ i I
cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
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must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
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We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
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policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
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we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
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rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
corcerne0 vitil the tot-l ccosystem D not just hmv- -le ltlispose of our
tin cans our bottJes nnd our garb8ge I t is concerned with the habitat
of marine crclt1tures ll1imal~ birds [Inc rlan Our goa 1 is jus t not
an environment of clcan air 5nd cle~n wnter and scenic beauty ~~ile
forgetting auout the A ppRlachias and the ghettos lhere our citizens
live in Americ~s wor~t environment Our goal is an environrr~nt of
decency quality md mutual respect fOl- all other human beings Clnd all
other living crea tures tan environment lolithout ugliness without
ghettos without di5crimination vlithout hunger without poverty lolithout
war Our goal is a decent environment in its broadest and deepest sense I
- -~---
(NELSO~ Continued)
Winning the environmental war in a -hole lot tougher challenge by felr
than winning any other war in history of man
We could denninate our involver1ent in Laos in 30 days--and I think
we should--and we could stop our involvement in the killings of Vietnam
very shortly- - and l think lC should But wish for it work for it fight
fOL it commit unlimited resources tOvlard it nevertheles~ J
the battle
to restore a prOPer relationship between man and his environment between
man and other living creatures will require a long sustained political
rural ethical and financial commitment far beyond any effort we ever
=-=
made before in any enterprise in the history of man
Are we able Yes I think so Are ve ltlilling That is the
unanswered question
I tolould just like to explore some of thephys ical aspects c the
problem I think you can divide it into the physical aspects and the
philosophical aspects and you may not logically separate one from the
other but because of the UmitC_tiona of time I will address nsectlself
in the means of the physical aspects of what seem to me to be the major
en~ironment8l problems which confront us
shyt
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f
but I do not do that to the exclusion of the philosophical aspects
which probably are most important since we will not determine to do
what must be done in reforming our institutions our way of life our
attitudes toward our environment until we have a philosophical
change first
Let us look at the big picture for a moment We have a tendency
to consider that we live on a planet of unlimited space and unlimited
resources It is not so We live on a finite planet with finite
resources This planet has a limited capacity to sustain life It
has a Itm1ted thin envelope of air amp~vUMd it which is subject to
pollution and betng rapidly polluted ~~orldwide We have u thiil
coating of productive topaoil and a very limited amount of space on
earth and it middot has a limited productive capacity We have a limited
tllllOunt of minerals and resources which can be used in our industril1l
and technological society and acme day they will be cyJulusted
~ We have A limited ampmOunt of water scenic beauty wilderness
d If
and forests Let me 8ampy 30~0thing about water which is one we aLe
most familiar uith that ~nd air since we deal with it avery day I )
1-1 __ - -Wly ~~ngLe r~aource and say it is most
I
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I
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important to the exclusion of all others they are all critically
important Let us look at water Water is the lifeblood of the
whole ecosystem Pollute the water and you corrupt the whole system
In this country we have available about 600 billion gallons of water
that we can use daily that is if we capture what comes out of the
atmosphere f~ ~ capture
from the underground aquifers without depleting
them That resource is about 600 billion gallons per day We are
using 375 billion gallons a day We will reach 600 billion gallons of
consumpti~n in the yeer 1980 or thereampbouts We will 30 years from
nm be using approximately 1200 billion gallons of Jater l day which J
is twice the national supply rnat means that on the average all
water will be used twice But fe do not live )here in the east or in
that mjor m~tropolitGn complex arounci the southern tip of Lake
Michigan or on the west coast) tn an area that is average In these
areas of many dense populations we will be using water five 10 15
20 perhaps 30 timas If it is dtrty middotHa ter and we have to extr t1ct it
from undarground or rivers or lakes and launder it and roturn it dirty
and do thAt 10 or 15 or 20 times we get some idea of the immeasurable
t
I ~ i I
cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
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must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
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We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
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policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
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l
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that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
(NELSO~ Continued)
Winning the environmental war in a -hole lot tougher challenge by felr
than winning any other war in history of man
We could denninate our involver1ent in Laos in 30 days--and I think
we should--and we could stop our involvement in the killings of Vietnam
very shortly- - and l think lC should But wish for it work for it fight
fOL it commit unlimited resources tOvlard it nevertheles~ J
the battle
to restore a prOPer relationship between man and his environment between
man and other living creatures will require a long sustained political
rural ethical and financial commitment far beyond any effort we ever
=-=
made before in any enterprise in the history of man
Are we able Yes I think so Are ve ltlilling That is the
unanswered question
I tolould just like to explore some of thephys ical aspects c the
problem I think you can divide it into the physical aspects and the
philosophical aspects and you may not logically separate one from the
other but because of the UmitC_tiona of time I will address nsectlself
in the means of the physical aspects of what seem to me to be the major
en~ironment8l problems which confront us
shyt
l I
f
but I do not do that to the exclusion of the philosophical aspects
which probably are most important since we will not determine to do
what must be done in reforming our institutions our way of life our
attitudes toward our environment until we have a philosophical
change first
Let us look at the big picture for a moment We have a tendency
to consider that we live on a planet of unlimited space and unlimited
resources It is not so We live on a finite planet with finite
resources This planet has a limited capacity to sustain life It
has a Itm1ted thin envelope of air amp~vUMd it which is subject to
pollution and betng rapidly polluted ~~orldwide We have u thiil
coating of productive topaoil and a very limited amount of space on
earth and it middot has a limited productive capacity We have a limited
tllllOunt of minerals and resources which can be used in our industril1l
and technological society and acme day they will be cyJulusted
~ We have A limited ampmOunt of water scenic beauty wilderness
d If
and forests Let me 8ampy 30~0thing about water which is one we aLe
most familiar uith that ~nd air since we deal with it avery day I )
1-1 __ - -Wly ~~ngLe r~aource and say it is most
I
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I
I I
important to the exclusion of all others they are all critically
important Let us look at water Water is the lifeblood of the
whole ecosystem Pollute the water and you corrupt the whole system
In this country we have available about 600 billion gallons of water
that we can use daily that is if we capture what comes out of the
atmosphere f~ ~ capture
from the underground aquifers without depleting
them That resource is about 600 billion gallons per day We are
using 375 billion gallons a day We will reach 600 billion gallons of
consumpti~n in the yeer 1980 or thereampbouts We will 30 years from
nm be using approximately 1200 billion gallons of Jater l day which J
is twice the national supply rnat means that on the average all
water will be used twice But fe do not live )here in the east or in
that mjor m~tropolitGn complex arounci the southern tip of Lake
Michigan or on the west coast) tn an area that is average In these
areas of many dense populations we will be using water five 10 15
20 perhaps 30 timas If it is dtrty middotHa ter and we have to extr t1ct it
from undarground or rivers or lakes and launder it and roturn it dirty
and do thAt 10 or 15 or 20 times we get some idea of the immeasurable
t
I ~ i I
cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
i I
i bull i i
i I I i I ~
I I
I l I
must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
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rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
=-=
made before in any enterprise in the history of man
Are we able Yes I think so Are ve ltlilling That is the
unanswered question
I tolould just like to explore some of thephys ical aspects c the
problem I think you can divide it into the physical aspects and the
philosophical aspects and you may not logically separate one from the
other but because of the UmitC_tiona of time I will address nsectlself
in the means of the physical aspects of what seem to me to be the major
en~ironment8l problems which confront us
shyt
l I
f
but I do not do that to the exclusion of the philosophical aspects
which probably are most important since we will not determine to do
what must be done in reforming our institutions our way of life our
attitudes toward our environment until we have a philosophical
change first
Let us look at the big picture for a moment We have a tendency
to consider that we live on a planet of unlimited space and unlimited
resources It is not so We live on a finite planet with finite
resources This planet has a limited capacity to sustain life It
has a Itm1ted thin envelope of air amp~vUMd it which is subject to
pollution and betng rapidly polluted ~~orldwide We have u thiil
coating of productive topaoil and a very limited amount of space on
earth and it middot has a limited productive capacity We have a limited
tllllOunt of minerals and resources which can be used in our industril1l
and technological society and acme day they will be cyJulusted
~ We have A limited ampmOunt of water scenic beauty wilderness
d If
and forests Let me 8ampy 30~0thing about water which is one we aLe
most familiar uith that ~nd air since we deal with it avery day I )
1-1 __ - -Wly ~~ngLe r~aource and say it is most
I
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I
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important to the exclusion of all others they are all critically
important Let us look at water Water is the lifeblood of the
whole ecosystem Pollute the water and you corrupt the whole system
In this country we have available about 600 billion gallons of water
that we can use daily that is if we capture what comes out of the
atmosphere f~ ~ capture
from the underground aquifers without depleting
them That resource is about 600 billion gallons per day We are
using 375 billion gallons a day We will reach 600 billion gallons of
consumpti~n in the yeer 1980 or thereampbouts We will 30 years from
nm be using approximately 1200 billion gallons of Jater l day which J
is twice the national supply rnat means that on the average all
water will be used twice But fe do not live )here in the east or in
that mjor m~tropolitGn complex arounci the southern tip of Lake
Michigan or on the west coast) tn an area that is average In these
areas of many dense populations we will be using water five 10 15
20 perhaps 30 timas If it is dtrty middotHa ter and we have to extr t1ct it
from undarground or rivers or lakes and launder it and roturn it dirty
and do thAt 10 or 15 or 20 times we get some idea of the immeasurable
t
I ~ i I
cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
i I
i bull i i
i I I i I ~
I I
I l I
must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
but I do not do that to the exclusion of the philosophical aspects
which probably are most important since we will not determine to do
what must be done in reforming our institutions our way of life our
attitudes toward our environment until we have a philosophical
change first
Let us look at the big picture for a moment We have a tendency
to consider that we live on a planet of unlimited space and unlimited
resources It is not so We live on a finite planet with finite
resources This planet has a limited capacity to sustain life It
has a Itm1ted thin envelope of air amp~vUMd it which is subject to
pollution and betng rapidly polluted ~~orldwide We have u thiil
coating of productive topaoil and a very limited amount of space on
earth and it middot has a limited productive capacity We have a limited
tllllOunt of minerals and resources which can be used in our industril1l
and technological society and acme day they will be cyJulusted
~ We have A limited ampmOunt of water scenic beauty wilderness
d If
and forests Let me 8ampy 30~0thing about water which is one we aLe
most familiar uith that ~nd air since we deal with it avery day I )
1-1 __ - -Wly ~~ngLe r~aource and say it is most
I
-~------
I
I I
important to the exclusion of all others they are all critically
important Let us look at water Water is the lifeblood of the
whole ecosystem Pollute the water and you corrupt the whole system
In this country we have available about 600 billion gallons of water
that we can use daily that is if we capture what comes out of the
atmosphere f~ ~ capture
from the underground aquifers without depleting
them That resource is about 600 billion gallons per day We are
using 375 billion gallons a day We will reach 600 billion gallons of
consumpti~n in the yeer 1980 or thereampbouts We will 30 years from
nm be using approximately 1200 billion gallons of Jater l day which J
is twice the national supply rnat means that on the average all
water will be used twice But fe do not live )here in the east or in
that mjor m~tropolitGn complex arounci the southern tip of Lake
Michigan or on the west coast) tn an area that is average In these
areas of many dense populations we will be using water five 10 15
20 perhaps 30 timas If it is dtrty middotHa ter and we have to extr t1ct it
from undarground or rivers or lakes and launder it and roturn it dirty
and do thAt 10 or 15 or 20 times we get some idea of the immeasurable
t
I ~ i I
cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
i I
i bull i i
i I I i I ~
I I
I l I
must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
pollution and betng rapidly polluted ~~orldwide We have u thiil
coating of productive topaoil and a very limited amount of space on
earth and it middot has a limited productive capacity We have a limited
tllllOunt of minerals and resources which can be used in our industril1l
and technological society and acme day they will be cyJulusted
~ We have A limited ampmOunt of water scenic beauty wilderness
d If
and forests Let me 8ampy 30~0thing about water which is one we aLe
most familiar uith that ~nd air since we deal with it avery day I )
1-1 __ - -Wly ~~ngLe r~aource and say it is most
I
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I
I I
important to the exclusion of all others they are all critically
important Let us look at water Water is the lifeblood of the
whole ecosystem Pollute the water and you corrupt the whole system
In this country we have available about 600 billion gallons of water
that we can use daily that is if we capture what comes out of the
atmosphere f~ ~ capture
from the underground aquifers without depleting
them That resource is about 600 billion gallons per day We are
using 375 billion gallons a day We will reach 600 billion gallons of
consumpti~n in the yeer 1980 or thereampbouts We will 30 years from
nm be using approximately 1200 billion gallons of Jater l day which J
is twice the national supply rnat means that on the average all
water will be used twice But fe do not live )here in the east or in
that mjor m~tropolitGn complex arounci the southern tip of Lake
Michigan or on the west coast) tn an area that is average In these
areas of many dense populations we will be using water five 10 15
20 perhaps 30 timas If it is dtrty middotHa ter and we have to extr t1ct it
from undarground or rivers or lakes and launder it and roturn it dirty
and do thAt 10 or 15 or 20 times we get some idea of the immeasurable
t
I ~ i I
cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
i I
i bull i i
i I I i I ~
I I
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must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
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We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
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I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
important to the exclusion of all others they are all critically
important Let us look at water Water is the lifeblood of the
whole ecosystem Pollute the water and you corrupt the whole system
In this country we have available about 600 billion gallons of water
that we can use daily that is if we capture what comes out of the
atmosphere f~ ~ capture
from the underground aquifers without depleting
them That resource is about 600 billion gallons per day We are
using 375 billion gallons a day We will reach 600 billion gallons of
consumpti~n in the yeer 1980 or thereampbouts We will 30 years from
nm be using approximately 1200 billion gallons of Jater l day which J
is twice the national supply rnat means that on the average all
water will be used twice But fe do not live )here in the east or in
that mjor m~tropolitGn complex arounci the southern tip of Lake
Michigan or on the west coast) tn an area that is average In these
areas of many dense populations we will be using water five 10 15
20 perhaps 30 timas If it is dtrty middotHa ter and we have to extr t1ct it
from undarground or rivers or lakes and launder it and roturn it dirty
and do thAt 10 or 15 or 20 times we get some idea of the immeasurable
t
I ~ i I
cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
i I
i bull i i
i I I i I ~
I I
I l I
must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
nm be using approximately 1200 billion gallons of Jater l day which J
is twice the national supply rnat means that on the average all
water will be used twice But fe do not live )here in the east or in
that mjor m~tropolitGn complex arounci the southern tip of Lake
Michigan or on the west coast) tn an area that is average In these
areas of many dense populations we will be using water five 10 15
20 perhaps 30 timas If it is dtrty middotHa ter and we have to extr t1ct it
from undarground or rivers or lakes and launder it and roturn it dirty
and do thAt 10 or 15 or 20 times we get some idea of the immeasurable
t
I ~ i I
cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
i I
i bull i i
i I I i I ~
I I
I l I
must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
cost to that kind of usage of our resources It would be a whole lot )
cheaper to keep it clean in the first place
What have we done to our water Well there is not a single
major watershed east of the Mississippi River that is not seriously
polluted There is not a major watershed -lest of the Mississippi
that does middot not have some pollution We have effectively destroyed
Lake Erie He see the beginnings of the serious pollution of Lake
MichigGn not only in the southern tip but off tl1e shores of all the
great cities on that lake He see the very tiny begiwih1gs of the
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
i I
i bull i i
i I I i I ~
I I
I l I
must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
pollution of Lake Superior which is the third gre~tegt body of fresh
w~ter on earth in terms of its capacity third to Lake Baykel in
Russia and Tanganyika in Africa Lake Superior)with 2700 cubic miles
of delicamptely fresh pure water easily susceptible to pollutfon a
body of iat~r that could not be created with all the rescurc~s that
the the world has) That body of ~latar is nou receiving fromReserve
Mining Company in Duluth 60000 tons of taconite sealings a day
using it for purposes of disposal If thut is not stopped lnd all the
rest of the pollutants going in you will see the beginning~ of the and
shyI
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
i I
i bull i i
i I I i I ~
I I
I l I
must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
of Lake Superior an asset we are unable to replace
What kind of programs are necessary what kind of major programs
are necessary for us to undertake at all levels of government I will
address myself just to some national policies very quickly One a
national policy on air quality and a national policy on water quality
The policy is simple enough First we must expand our investment in
~
research and development several fold over what we have spent in the ~
past We have spent very little in research in attempting to neutralize
wastes that go into the water and into the air because we did not tllink
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
i I
i bull i i
i I I i I ~
I I
I l I
must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
it ~as nccesary to do BO because of lhat lie thought was the unlimited
capacity of t1e rivers and the air to cleanse themselves Now ole have
overtaxed them and we must open a massive research program Then we
must establish a policy on air and water - What should the policy be
It should be a policy that all municipalities and all 1ndustries and
all pollutors no matter iho they may be must meet air remission
standards ~~ich are established and the measurement of the standards
must bOt hat is the status of the art the highest status of the
prac tical art Every industry and municipality in the co~ntry
sect -
i I
i bull i i
i I I i I ~
I I
I l I
must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
must_ install that ~quipmen~ which does the best job of refining
or neutralizing or extracting the pollutants Then with each passing
year as we develop more sophisticated equipment to refine water
effluent to refine pollutants out of the air the standard forthwith
that must be established for water quality and air quality is the
practical standard that meets _ again the newest and highest status of the arch
That has to be automatic We have industries and municipalities in this
country that are not using any equipment at all even though reasonably )
sewage good equipment for refinin~secondary treatment has been on the market
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
for decadl2s lllld d~cades_J and yet there are endless numbers of ci ties
and municipalities that do not have any treatment plants at all for
automatically all pollutors all sources of pollution all municipalities
11 must be required to meet the current highest status of the art
Congress ought to do as to the municipality is to establish a formula
of assisting the municipalities in s ewage treatment in the same way
lith -andthe SClle policy that we established ~men e built the interstate
highway system We thought it was important in Congress in the mid 50s
to establish a limited access interstate highway system and for the )
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
middot ~
Congress to appropriate 90 percent of the money to build the highway fo
the States to appropriate 10 percent and we proceeded to build the
highway at an expense which ultimately will be $60 million I doubt
whether that highway system is half as important to this country as
clean water is I would hope that very soon Congress would be prepared
to support the municipalities on a 90-10 or 80-20 basis at least and
then require everybody to install that equipment ~hat meets the highest
current status of the arch Hhich is currently secondary treatment Witll
an ~dequate capacity plan As soon as tertiary is practical everybody
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
rous t ins tall tha t too ri th the fede-al aid I am talking about
These policies should apply to air and water and they must be
on-going policies constantly revisedQ Ultimately in a period of years
we will be able to enhance the q~ality of both air and water in
this country substantially
I
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
- I
We need a national mineral policy We need to recognize - that there is a
and limited amount of minerals in the worldwe are the biggest
consumers And I might say in passing no matter what we do about
it the amount of minerals left in the world will not sustain
the technological society of our sophistication 100 years from
now anyway because it is within that lOa-year period or thereabouts
that we will emaust a major portion of the critical minerals
and metals thet are nml necessary to sustain the kind of a highly
sophiaticated and technological society that we now have In auy
event I We will have a policy about the use of minerals thid reS0HrCGS
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
I might cite as an example one t7e are all familiar with) that
in and the sub- oil d4illing Santa Barbara Gulli of l1exico I do not think it
i
is a rational policy to permit people to drill in the ocean bed
until euch time as we need the oil and have the technology to Ub ~ure
its extraction without environmental disasters of the kind that
have been occurring in both the Gulf and off the coast of Santa
i
Barbara It iJ Wl irrational policy when you consider that we also
oil have 011 imports in order to keep~out at this stage in history
I
We nead a national lend use policy)nnd I see that your
legislAture underntands it and you revised your origin~l ac~~
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
the leader in the Nation m this fie1d)you are to be commended
I think it is a disgrace what we permitted to happen in terms of
the desecration of the landscape by the extraction of ores from
strip mining Which if you total and if you were to take all the
strip mines 1n America and line them up end to end 100 feet wide)
would stretch 1460000 miles open strip mines on the fie1dacross
the Ustian 500 times nth mines 100 -feet wide I am glad to see
that you are -leading the Nation again in undertaking to tackle this
problem I might say that anytime you oen the earth the first
question you nust ask is
the benefit you are going to get
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
not offset the damEge that will be caused ~d is it~os8ible that you
are better off under some circumstances not to extract the ore
because the d~ampge is greater than any conceivable benefits to
the Nation llS a whole I think there a~c many cases such as thai
-1f-We ought to require everybody to restore the overburden We ought
to do something else about land use Some of it can be done at
Much of it hus to Ot done at the state level
becauoe the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction
I will cite just an example This is a State ~nth some
magnificent outdoor resources and rivers and waters If-~in my 1 _ _
-- -~~-
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
r
Stat~ with 8500 lakes and 1500 miles of streams and rivers
bordered on the north by Lake Superior and on the eas t by Lake
Michigan and on the west by two great rivers the St Croix and
the Missisrippi I
we are as blessed as any State in the Nation
with fresh mter assets and yet we have followed the same
irrational policy as has been followed by every other State in the
Nation of permitting peoplebecause they bought a lot on the shore
of a river or on the shore of a 1eketo cut a vista to the 1ake 5
cut the trees dorn put in a cottage put in a septic te1k 0 lhat
Ope have they done they destroyed the scenic beuuty of the lak~
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
two they disturbed the stability of the shcr~ line and started the J
I
I siltation of the lake three they are draining their effluent
I in the lake and they have started the fertilization of the lake I Every lake that you look at in America tn which you se~ that I situation you are lookingat a lake that has received its death
sentence The ~uestion 1s)what year does it ultimately die because
it cannot toler~te that int~lsicn
I have proposed for yellrsymd it finally pa38poundd in my State
I
the zoning lal which ) if enforced will do something about that
Enforcement i8 the question You should have setback zoning You I
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
~
should prohibit the cutting of any trees on any lakeshore or any
river or the intrusion upon that shoreline That water is public
water It does not belong to the wwner of the abutting piece of
land It belongs to the public)and that owner of that piece of
land is not entitled to destroy public property as has happened
allover this country And it is not to his interest to do so
because he is foolishly destroying the assets for hich he moved
out to that shoreline in the first place I would like to see
land use policies to do something about that and a land use
policy that lOuld not permit the fil U_ng of San Francisco Bay
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
For llhat purpcseTo make a profit on apartment buildings for
some private mTner at the expense of the bay and to add to the
tax base of Sampn Francisco(_and as they fill it they erode the
total tax bae of the city) because it LS San Francisco Bay -lhich
distinguishes that city foom any other city in America Jhat
have they done to San Francisco Bay -Then I went to college
to in San Jo~e C~liforniathe tip of the bay bull it was 510 square
miles Do you knmi what they filled Two hundred square miles
We now have a bay of 310 square miles a di=ARt-Yt A -----
f
-_ __
I I I t
I I I I r
I I I
I I I I I
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
policy for any city to follow or for the ~corps of engineers to
If permit So we need a national land use policy to recognize that
the land does not belong in toto to the one who holds the taxes
to recognize fhAt the philosophy that all the indians had -when - -
the white man said I would like to buy your land he said it
is not our land it belongs to my grandsons my great grandsons
will and all of those ~ho follow me The indians to this day 01111 not
setamp their lend You may lease from them for 99 years but the
indian tribe~ will not sell their l~nd because they consider
it does not belong to them
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
it does not b~long to them
I feel that any land use policy that had any rationality
r middot at all would stop this insane policy of draining wet lands all
across America this State my State every other State in the
Nation draining wet lands to put into production another ptece
prodince of land to something that we do not need and at the same
time destroying the habitat of living creatures birds and others
that are c=it~l to our ~tlhole ecological complex We need to
do something sbout land use policy which is a tough political
que8t1o~umU problem because people always figure it is my land lJ A
and I can do ith my land -hatever I hope to do Well He settle
I
I
I I
I I
I I bull
l
I
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
that issue on Borne questions a long time ago We zoned in the city
because you cannot build a factory in a residential section That
was an interference with the use of the ownership of that land
We ought to start our interence in these other fields if we are
going to preserve land in this country
We need a national policy on wilderness to preserve what
preciouB little wilderness is left so there is still en opportunity
not only for individuals to enjoy it but the critical necessity
for this generation and generations for all time to come to be
able to go someplace and study the works of man and the -rorke of
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
nature unintruded into by the hands of men critical to u t derstanding
of life around us understanding of our role in this whole
ecological complex We need a national policy on herbicides
and pesticJdes which stop the in3ani~y of introducing indiscriminately
into the atmosphere slew degrading chlorinated hydrocarbons ~Yhich
are permeating the air the Boil and the water and the fatty
tissue of GluLOst every living creature on earth and is rapidly
destroying many that we know of and no doubt mnny that ~~e do
not y~OW about But those that are dying and are visible now
are the great bald eagle the peregrine falcon the Bermuda petrel
I I
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
great birds who at the end of food change who-are eating fish and
other creat~ues who have accumulated a heavY dosage of DDT thus
affecting the capacity of that female bird to lay down enough
calcium to make a shell hard enough to hold that chick until
it is strong enough to survive on its own A disastrous policy
that has no sense what soever We ought to do the same thing
about herbicides and pesticides and the same policies we have
about prescription drugs ~ve are medicating the world without
its consent with these chlorinated hydrocarbons but we would not
permit a drug to go into the marketplace without first testing
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
its effect in the laboratory on the tltlrget organism testing it
on animals and on human beings and then seeing yenhether or not
it passed the muster of the FDA
I
11
I
I
I I
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
we ought to do the same with any of these herbicides and pesticides
which we int~oduce into the environment First have a test so we
understand the ecologic implications so that we will not be creating
an ecologic disaster by using herbicides and pesticides which may
do some good for that part or oganism but destroy all kinds of living
creatures which are critical to our own survival as well as their own
He need a national policy to elfminate the ghetto He need a
national policy on enery Can you hnagine o7hat is going to happen in
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
8 countly if the fact that ole doubled the sonsumption of encry
every 10 year-or as we have since 1900 In 100 years then we will be
using 1000 times as much energy 100 years from now as we are ueing now
unless we succeed in science in making fusion energy possible vrlich
some think we may in 10 years which hs no pollution Unless W~ succeed
in that under our correct energy consumption gross policy we will have
1000 times as much coal being consumed 1000 times as much nuclear
energ~ 1~000 times as many wires to carry it 1000 tLm~8 as many
plants using water out of our rivers and streams Obviouo1y a disaster
So we need a policy a national policy on energv
I I
t
i I bull I
I I 1
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
rdampe OL7
(NELSON Continued)
gt
We need an national oceans policy Most people think that because
the ocean covers two-thirds of the earth that it is an indestructible
asset The ocean is the largest resource on the face of the earth
There is a marine biologist in America wno studied it whose authority
as far as I know from Dr Paul () across the board from
Barry Comner or any of the rest who will not say to you that if we
continue at the current escalating rate to introduce the pollutents to
the great cities of ~merica and the middotweld into the ocean from tlle air
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
-from municip~lities from indus tries if vIe continue at the cuz-eot
escalating rate somewhere betwceen 25 and 50 years from now that will
be the end of thc productivity of the oceans because you need not
pollute very much of the ocean 5 because the productivity of the ocean
is in the estuary and on the continental shell which is a very narrow
band One one coast 150 miles wide and 100 miles another and most
of that productivity is in the first one-half dozen miles of the contin-
ontal sh~lf ~~d in the estuary So yc~ are polluting a ve~y lL~ited
amount of area in order to destroy the productivity of the whole ocean
We need a policy which says no more dumping of solid waates as New
York and any of theother cities are doing and no industry and no
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
municipality may be entitled to introduce into the ocean any affluent
of lower quality than the water which is already there
We need a national policy on recycling waste I am glad to see
that this legislature is undertaking to do that I might just say that
probably the smallest part of the whole problem is disposable bottles
- -
and cans but when you look at the smallest part of the problem compare
it against the rest I would just sugge ~ t to you that last yeaL we
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
used 78 million dispo34ble bottles and csnB almost three bottles and
cans for cvery mfln t woman and child on earth t las t year ~lt1here did ~le
CfLspose of them Look in your parks look on your streets look on your
highways t and t costs somewhere around 20 cents for a highway
department to pick up every single one of them We need a national
policy that permits the use of disposable bottles We got along very
well without tnem until about six or seven years ago and as a matter
of convenience ~re have introduced this additional solid waste into
our atmosphere
May I JUBt conclude by saying all of these problems are related
I i
I I f
t 1 f
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
(NELSON Continued)
to one another population
No matter what your commitment of resources to resolving this
problem if the population continues to grow at the current accelerating
r2te so that we reach 300 million People in this country 30 years from
now and six and one-half to seven billion people on the earth 30 years
from now you can write fine to the environment The United States is
over populated now by any environmental standard of measurement If we
cannot look to what we have done in the last 30 years t to the gtlatersheds
of this country and to the air if yoti look at that and realh~ that
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
we could not inhabit preserve the integrity of the environment with
200 million people what will it be like with 300 million i ~]ell your
guess is as good as mine What is the cost I suggested earlier there
has go~ to be c change in attitude ano philosophy toward our environment
in other living creatures and those ho suggest that somehow or another
we as part of ahe living species of the world ara above and separate
and apart from them they are mistaking There are no other creatures
who h2ve a lot more survivability than the human speciQ9 has and we
will not be the l ast to disnppear 90 do nn~ ~c~ ~ _1 _~ 6 L _ - _ - - -- -~ - ---- -- OOVLLD
It tolls fo~ thee The cockroach will outl-ve us all
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
(NELSON Continued)
It will require a change in attitude and that change in attitude
will make it possible for us to do something about it What is the
cost First I Hould say the cost of not doing it is immeasurable
The cost of doing something about it is perhaps imrneasurable roughly
But air pollution we could stop the air pollution in this country
if we spent as much for a few years or as we are being taxed nm because
the economic damage of air pollution is estimated to be from $10 billion
to $12 billion a year Spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year on
research and equipment and we will effectively lick that problem So
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
the cost of doing nothing is immeasurcbly greater thEm the cost of doing
something I ~lOuld suggest that nobody in this country in either
political party in any position of leadership which I know of save
a handful in the fields of biology anc in the fields of science are
really saying what it will take I would suggest that we must spend
very shortly at the congressional level--I am not talking about the
States in th~ expense to be shoulciereci Dy private industry--that
$25 billion to $30 billton a year more than we are now spending on this
problem Before very many years go by $80 $40 billion tQ $50 billion
a year in this area People say to me that is a lot of money Yes
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
--0- --
$25 billion to $30 billion is about what we are wasting in Vietnam $30
billion to $40 billion is about ~alf of what we are spending annually
on the defense budget So we can afford it for weapon systems we can
afford it for moon shots and we can afford it to preserve the integrity
and the survivability of the environment in which we live
I think it can be done if we have the will the desire the
understanding I would suggest to you all of whom are successful
political leaders in your mm communities s erving in a great State yrith
poundl distinguished legislature that the best thing which ~ couJrl elll do
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much
is lend our hand to creating nonpnrtisDnpolitical action environmental
organizations in every community in America Dnd that the test of anybody
who is runningnot be on what party is running Let us not worry about
that Let us have our organization say the test is if you are running
for the city council the state legislature the Congress of the United
States or President where do you stand on this issue and what kind of
a fight are you willing to make on this issue Those who stand right
ought to be elected those who do not had not ought to be elected
because this issue is too critical for anvbodv to ionnre
Thank you very much