Patricia Schroeder: “I was very pleased when this House last week passed the very important Stokes-Boehlert amendment, which did not undo all…”

“I was very pleased when this House last week passed the very important Stokes-Boehlert amendment, which did not undo all of the environmental regulations. There is a reason for environmental regulations. I am sending to every Member a copy of the August Discover magazine. It is about the last days of Easter Island. I totally believe that if we do not learn from history, we are condemned to repeat it. Scientists now, by taking core samples from Easter Island, have been able to document what happened there. As they pointed out, in just a few centuries they can tell that the people of Easter Island wiped out their forest, drove their plants and animals to extinction, and saw their complex society break down into chaos and cannibalism. It is a very important lesson for all of us on Planet Earth that we do not become an Easter Island 'wannabe.' If we do not learn from history we are condemned to repeat it. I hope all of my colleagues will have time to look at this over the break, and that we certainly do not undo the progress we made last week by realizing how important some of these environmental gains can be.”