The Cavalier daily :: Monday, October 30, 1972 :: University of Virginia Library

(Ms. Huey is the former
Chairman of the Charlottesville
Friends of the Earth. The
following is a chronicle she has
prepared on President Richard
Nixon's environmental policies.
This is the first in a two-part
series.–Ed.)

During the campaign of 1968
Richard Nixon pledged his
support for the environment,
and his first two years of office
were punctuated by such
phrases as "ecological
disaster," "total mobilization,"
and "now or never."

In 1969, President Nixon
scored a major victory for the
ecology of South Florida by
withdrawing federal support
for the proposed jetport
project. Those who claim that
our nation's environmental
programs have proliferated
under the Nixon
Administration are correct.
Richard Nixon was the fist
U.S. president to discover the
political possibilities which lay
in the environmental issue.

However, the rhetoric of the
early Nixon has waned, and
the last two years of his term
have been marred by an
environmental package which
can only be characterized as
weak, inadequate,
and loophole-filled.

What made Nixon change?
Economics? Environmental
programs are expensive. Special
interests? Someone has to pay
for political campaigns and the
environmental issue is a sword
in the side of industry.

The Council on
Environmental Quality was
established by the National
Environmental Policy Act of
1970 "despite objections from
the White House." The CEQ
advised the President and
coordinates environmental
policy. Initially environmentalists
were optimistic
about this advisory body. The
CEQ was instrumental in the
decision to halt the jetport
project, but in 1971 the advice
of this body was ignored. This
triggered a "bitter political
rupture" in 1972 which left
the Council "isolated from
President Nixon and his staff."

President Nixon also
opposed the creation of the
Environmental Protection
Agency "which now has
authority over air and water
pollution, solid waste, noise
and limited jurisdiction over
pesticides and radiation."
Nixon's Office of Management
and Budget holds the
purse-strings and has hindered
the efforts of EPA on several
occasions.

Of Nixon's February 1970
environmental message to
Congress concerning air
pollution standards, Ralph
Nader says, "One is hard put to
imagine a more ineffective
measure... (this) incorporates
all the weaknesses and most of
the delays that have hamstrung
enforcement of the present
law." Edmund Muskie
(D-Maine) was instrumental in
eliminating the weaknesses of
the Nixon proposals and his
tougher "Muskie Bill" passed
the Senate by a vote of 73-0 on
September 22, 1970

During October and
November meetings were held
at the White House Office of
Management and Budget to
discuss Muskie's more stringent
bill. The Housing, Education,
& Welfare Department. The
Commerce Department. The
Justice Department, and the
White House Council on
Environmental Quality were
present.

"Two weeks after the 1970
congressional elections the
Administration sent a letter,
under the signature of Elliot
Richardson, to the members of
the House and Senate
conference committee which
was negotiating the differences
between the House and Senate
bills. The letter asked that
almost all the tough provisions
in the senate bill be deleted
from the final legislation."

The Administration's efforts
were fruitless however and the
Senate provisions stayed intact
in almost every important
point. Richard Nixon fought
these amendments every step
of the way. However, on
December 31, 1970 he signed
the Clean Air Act Amendments
of 1970 with a flourish, and
praised the bill as a
"cooperative effort of both
political parties" adding that it
"incorporated all his
recommendations. (which, to
say the least, it did.)"

Paradoxically Muskie, the
real champion of the bill was
absent from the small group of
congressmen, newspaper and
TV reporters, and Nixon aides.
When a reporter asked about
Muskie's absence and referred
to the bill as the "Muskie bill,"
the aide replied that the room
was too small and said "I don't
believe it's been called that...in
this room."

Although Nixon was not able
to stop the Clean Air Act
Amendments from being
passed, he has managed to
prevent their full
implementation by allotting
EPA only half the amount
authorized by the
amendments.

This policy of budgeting
smaller amounts than
authorized by Congress is not
limited to air pollution control.
For instance; in the case of
federal aid to municipal sewage
plants, Nixon requested only
$214 million of the $1 billion
authorized. In the following
year, 1971, he requested $1
billion of $1.25 billion
available.