THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY1

Each of us shares a concern for the deterioration of our environment, its abuse, and misuse. And I know that we share a sense of urgency about the need to halt this deterioration and win the struggle for a clean and wholesome relationship between man and his environment. This concern for the condition of the physical world is not a special interest, but cuts across social and economic strata and across generations. It is the product of a nearly universal understanding of the problem and of the deadly consequences of inaction. There is a growing realization among all of us that pollution control must become a way of life in this nation, and that it must remain a way of life. We know now that in exploiting our resources we have been exploiting ourselves. The Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA), was born of public demand for a cohesive, national effort to defend and enhance the environment. Establishment of EPA as an independent agency, with Administrator William Ruckelshaus reporting directly to the President, has impressively heightened the efficiency and effectiveness of our national effort and insured the independent advocacy of our programs. The programs of EPA, present and projected, are action-oriented; we are moving quickly to solve the problems we can solve, and have taken steps to learn how to solve others we currently understand less well.