University of Virginia Library

Hickel Claims Government Regulations
Solution To Environmental Problems

By SANDRA DIVINE

"Making things happen is
the one thing that is missing in
environmental issues today,"
and making things happen in
the environment has been of
paramount interest to former
interior Department Secretary
Walter J. Hickel.

Addressing an almost full
house in Cabell Hall
Auditorium last night, Mr.
Hickel maintained that
responsibility for the
environment rests with the
federal government.

Collective Problem

"There is no way for one
person to cure a collective
problem," Mr. Hickel said,
"and I think this is what
frustrates Americans most."

"There are plenty of people
who say what has to be done,
and know what has to be done,
but what I want to talk about
is how you make it happen,"
he said.

"In solving problems of the
environment," he said, "the
least important branch of the
federal government is the
legislature." He said Americans
have been sold a bill of goods
maintaining that "all you need
to do to solve a problem is pass
a law."

He cited the Johnson
administration's war on
poverty as an example of an
ineffective law, incapable of
solving the problem it was
created to cure. "Poverty
hasn't yet been touched here,"
he said.

Mr. Hickel said that in
cleaning up environmental
problems he always kept in
mind "that hate is not the
answer." He did not want to
make the same mistake that
was made at the turn of the
entity, "when we literally
destroyed the railroads because
of our hatred of the so-called
'robber barons.'"

Destroying Railroads

"Legislation was passed and
regulations were written that
crippled a means of
transportation that we really
need today. It is probably the
most economical and could be
the most pollution-free method
of transportation we have
today."

"Our hatred, and our really
getting in there destroyed the
railroads with regulations, is
making us pay for it now," he
said.

In writing regulations, Mr.
Hickel wants to lay down
regulations that are tough
enough to protect the public
but fair to all concerned.

"We need something beyond
existing regulations that would
say who is responsible in case
of a major environment
disaster."

"We couldn't wait for a
court to take action so I came
up with a plan called 'Absolute
Liability Without Cause,'" he
said.

Companies Responsible

In case of a disaster on the
Continental Shelf, no matter
who was at fault, the
companies themselves would
be responsible for cleaning it

CD/ Rick Bryant

Walter J. Hickel, Former Secretary Of The Interior