Political Quotes

“Mr. President, it is my great honor to join Senator Brown of Ohio here on this 50th anniversary. The image of a river aflame is engraved in our collective memory. For Ohioans, for Senator Brown, and for all others who care about our water and environment, the Cuyahoga River remains a rallying cry. Time magazine ran a piece in 1969 calling it this: ``Chocolate brown, oily, bubbling with subsurface gasses, it oozes rather than flows.'' No fish lived in it. It was too dangerous for drinking or swimming. ``The lower Cuyahoga has no visual signs of life, not even low forms such as leeches and sludge worms that usually thrive on wastes,'' a Federal report said. Virginia Aveni, captain of a vessel charged with cleaning up, told the Plain Dealer that the river ``was a complete gel almost of petrochemicals.'' There was a ``sheen and thickness of the river . . . . it was totally jammed with downfall from upstream'' and had ``every kind of litter you can imagine.'' Today, waterfowl are back, and paddlers enjoy themselves. It has been named River of the Year for 2019. Fish from the river are now safe to eat. A river that inspired a generation to act in the name of our environment has rewarded that effort. By the time a spark jumped off a nearby passing train and lit the river on fire in 1969, it was no surprise. The river had burst into flames 13 times before between 1868 and 1969.…”