Political Quotes

“The time for action is now. No longer can we substitute slogans for solutions. The protection of the environment offers America its best hope. Achieving the goal of a clean and healthy environment must be done by every American. We can reach this goal in this decade. And in reaching it, we can trigger a chain reaction of confidence and hope. Those are the words of Bill Ruckelshaus on this day 50 years ago; a Republican; the first Administrator of the EPA under Richard Nixon, and then again under Ronald Reagan; the man who implemented the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990. His successor under George H.W. Bush was Bill Reilly, who implemented the Acid Rain Program and the Montreal Protocol, a global, market-based cap and trade program. These men knew that science and our obligations to future generations are not negotiable. They tolerated no conflict between conservatism and conservation. Sixty percent of all the greenhouse gas emissions we have ever emitted as a species have been released since that speech Bill Ruckelshaus gave 50 years ago today. Madam Speaker, the time for action is now. ____________________”