A Cause Beyond Party and Beyond Factions

In The End of Energy, Michael J. Graetz cites a remarkable bit of President Nixon’s 1970 State of the Union Address.

Nixon reiterated his commitment to environmental issues. “The great question of the seventies is,” he said, “shall we surrender our surroundings, or shall we make peace with nature and begin to make reparations for the damage we have done to our air, to our land, and to our water.” He went on to describe environmentalism as “a cause beyond party and beyond factions,” adding that it “has become a common cause of all the people of our country.”

Graetz adds, however, that Nixon lost his enthusiasm for environmentalism not too long after the EPA opened its doors in December 1970.

Imagine

CleanTechnica:

The [Afghanistan and Iraq] wars have cost over $2.33 trillion and will cost over $4.53 trillion before they’re over…Installing a 6kW solar system installed on every home in the US would only cost $1.67 trillion (which includes the $107 billion for administration).

Doomed

Even fleece jackets. Discovery News, via MSNBC:

When you wash fleece jackets, polypro running shirts and other synthetic fabrics, a new study found, miniscule threads of plastic seep through filters and escape into the environment. Marine microplastics can penetrate the cells of even the tiniest organisms, raising all sorts of health concerns for both sea creatures and the people that eat them.