ConserveLand Blog

Wouldn’t it be cool if  a U.S. President made an inspiring call to action on conservation, environmental protection AND growth issues in a major national address, saying something along the lines of the following:

The moment has arrived to harness the vast energies and abundance of this land to the creation of a new American experience, an experience richer and deeper and more truly a reflection of the goodness and grace of the human spirit….

In the next ten years we shall increase our wealth by 50 percent. The profound question is – does this mean that we will be 50 percent richer in a real sense, 50 percent better off, 50 percent happier?….

The great question… is, … shall we make our peace with nature and begin to make reparations for the damage we have done to our air, our land and our water?

Restoring nature to its natural state is a cause beyond party and beyond factions. It has become a common cause of all the people of this country. It is a cause of particular concern to young Americans, because they more than we will reap the grim consequences of our failure to act on programs which are needed now if we are to prevent disaster later….

Clean air, clean water, open spaces — these should once again be the birthright of every American. If we act now, they can be.

We still think of air as free. But clean air is not free, and neither is clean water….

The program I shall propose to Congress will be the most comprehensive and costly program in this field ever in the nation’s history.

It is not a program for just one year. A year’s plan in this field is not plan at all. This is a time to look ahead not a year, but 5 years or 10 years — whatever time is required to do the job….

As our cities and suburbs relentlessly expand, those priceless open spaces needed for recreation areas accessible to their people are swallowed up — often forever. Unless we preserve these spaces while they are still available, we will have none to preserve. Therefore, I shall propose now financing methods for purchasing open space and parklands now, before they are lost to us….

We can no longer afford to consider air and water common property, free to be abused by anyone without regard to the consequences. Instead, we should begin now to treat them as scarce resources, which we are no more free to contaminate than we are free to throw garbage into our neighbor’s yard.

The argument is increasingly heard that a fundamental contradiction has arisen between economic growth and the quality of life, so that to have one we must forsake the other. The answer is not to abandon growth, but to redirect it…

I propose, that before these problems become insoluble, the Nation develop a national growth policy. Our purpose will be to find those means by which Federal, state and local government can influence the course of … growth so as positively to affect the quality of American life.

A U.S. President did say these words – 40 years ago. President Richard M. Nixon spoke them in his State of the Union Address of January 22, 1970. Many of the nation’s foundational environmental laws were enacted in the ensuing months.

It seems premature to compare President Obama’s rhetoric and results with Nixon’s, but I look forward to doing so in a few years time. (Who out there is looking for a PhD dissertation thesis?)

For the history buffs and policy wonks among you, I recommend reading the entire address. Nixon had more to say on environmental matters (as well as on winning a “just peace” in Vietnam, reforming the welfare system, national debt accumulated in the previous decade, etc.). The Address can be found in many locations on the web including http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/nixon-1.html.