Gaylord Nelson is gone

[richlevy]

Former Senator Who Founded Earth Day Dies

A conservationist years before it became fashionable, Nelson was recognized as one of the world's foremost environmental leaders. Then- President Clinton presented Nelson with a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995 for his environmental efforts.

"As the father of Earth Day, he is the grandfather of all that grew out of that event: the Environmental Protection Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act," read the proclamation from Clinton.

On my list of well-deserved and are-you-kidding recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, this man falls into the first category. He understood that the things we need the most, clean water and air, are also the things we take for granted and which can be taken away from us.

Here is a profile at the Wilderness Society

In 1995 he received the nation's highest civilian award: the Presidential Medal of Freedom. "As the father of Earth Day, he is the grandfather of all that grew out of that event: the Environmental Protection Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act," said the proclamation from President Clinton.
In 1992 the United Nations Environment Programme presented Gaylord Nelson with the Only One World Award.
In 1990 he recieved the Ansel Adams Conservation Award, bestowed upon a federal official who has shown exceptional commitment to the cause of conservation and the fostering of an American land ethic.

He sponsored or co-sponsored countless conservation bills, including the Wilderness Act and the Alaska Lands Act. In Wisconsin, his U.S. Senate legacy includes the St. Croix Wild and Scenic Riverway and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Nelson also was a trailblazer in consumer protection, especially involving prescription medicines. He was one of only three Senators to vote against the $700 million appropriation that signaled the start of the ground war in Vietnam.

It's too bad he died during this administration, which is quietly gutting the policies and ethics he stood for. Maybe in another ten years we will realize where we are headed and move back to respecting what G-d gave us.

[Elspode]

I'm going to give a hearty farewell to Mr. Nelson.

I remember well the very first Earth Day. It was the dawn of a new decade, and American society was still full of the feel of the power of numbers that had been shown in the anti-war protests of the 60's. Forward-looking minds saw what might be accomplished by vast numbers of people working together for a common cause.

I was in junior high school, and one of my classes was Earth Science. It only stood to figure that we would have an assignment related to Earth Day. We made posters. I anguished for weeks about mine, and in the end, I did one on recycling. I think it had a tree, and a newspaper, etc.

30 years later found me playing music on Earth Day...in a dumpster at a recycling center. I guess it all fits together somehow.

[Trilby]

Too bad his last name wasn't Focker. A lot more people would know who he was.

[xoxoxoBruce]

It's too bad he died during this administration, which is quietly gutting the policies and ethics he stood for.

Maybe that's what (or who) killed him.
He was a good guy, it's a shame that so many of the people he pioneered for are so rabid they're counter productive.