If we human beings learn to see the intricacies that bind one part of a natural system to another and then to us, we will no longer argue about the importance of wilderness protection, or over the question of saving endangered species, or how human communities must base their economic futures - not on short-term exploitation - but on long-term, sustainable development.
Gaylord NelsonAs far as I know, most organizations are avoiding population issues because they're politically frightened by the charge that comes from some proponents of immigration that if you oppose the immigration policy we have now, you're a racist.. There is no way in the world we can forge a sustainable society without stabilizing the population. ... There's no practical way of stabilizing the population of the U.S. without reducing the immigration rate. When do we decide we have to do something, or do we wait until things are as bad here as they are in the countries people want to leave?
Gaylord Nelson...Your company...will send drugs to all the underdeveloped countries of the world, and since they do not have any standards, we will fool them all and can make a great big profit and never tell the doctors that there is a risk.....You will meet the standards of the country in which you are advertising, not the...proper standard...I would think that you would not sleep at night....I do not think this country will not stand for it.
Gaylord NelsonThere is no domestic issue more important to America in the long run than the conservation and proper use of our natural resources, including fresh water, clean air, tillable soil, forests, wilderness, habitat for wildlife, minerals and recreational assets.
Gaylord NelsonI think the internal combustion engine will disappear from the streets of our cities in the next thirty years because transportation will be mass transportation, or probably electrical power.
Gaylord NelsonWe're going to have to do a whole lot more, and give nature at least a chance to repair some of the damage we've done.
Gaylord NelsonDr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, believes that in 25 years, somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct.
Gaylord NelsonReaching a general understanding that sustainability is the ultimate issue will finally bring us face-to-face with the political challenge of forging a sustainable society during the next few decades. It is a challenge we can meet if we have the leadership and the political will to do so.
Gaylord NelsonThe wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats and biodiversity... that's all there is. That's the whole economy. That's where all the economic activity and jobs come from. These biological systems are the sustaining wealth of the world.
Gaylord NelsonAll economic activity is dependent upon that environment and its underlying resource base of forests, water, air, soil, and minerals. When the environment is finally forced to file for bankruptcy because its resource base has been polluted, degraded, dissipated, and irretrievably compromised, the economy goes into bankruptcy with it.
Gaylord NelsonOur air, water, soil, forests, oceans, rivers, lakes, scenic beauty, wildlife habitat, minerals, that is the wealth of the country.
Gaylord NelsonThe bigger the population gets, the more serious the problems become... We have to address the population issue. The United Nations, with the U.S. supporting it, took the position in Cairo in 1994 that every country was responsible for stabilizing its own population. It can be done. But in this country, it's phony to say 'I'm for the environment but not for limiting immigration.'
Gaylord NelsonIn the state of Wisconsin it's mandated that teachers in the social sciences and hard sciences have to start giving environmental education by the first grade, through high school
Gaylord NelsonLoads of chemicals and hazardous wastes have been introduced into the atmosphere that didn't even exist in 1948. The environmental condition of the planet is far worse than it was 42 years ago.
Gaylord NelsonWe must realize that we're all part of a web of life around the world. Anytime you extinguish a species, the consequences are serious.
Gaylord NelsonTrails are relatively inexpensive. A splendid national network of all kinds of trails can be established at less cost than a few hundred miles of super highway.
Gaylord NelsonAll nations are degrading and consuming their environment to a point beyond capacity. In the past 15 years in the U.S. we have added 1300 cities with populations over 100,000. When the environment is forced to file Chapter 11, the ecology collapses. Nations recover from war but not from a failed eco-system. The status of our environment is more threatening than all wars. It is forever.
Gaylord NelsonThe issues are by some geometric number - 100 or 200 or 500 - times more complicated today than we appreciated them to be when Franklin Roosevelt was around.
Gaylord NelsonOur goal is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality and mutual respect for all other human beings and all other living creatures.
Gaylord NelsonThe ultimate test of a man's conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.
Gaylord NelsonThe most important environmental issue is one that is rarely mentioned, and that is the lack of a conservation ethic in our culture.
Gaylord NelsonIf we continue to address the issue of the environment where we live as though we're the only species that lives here, we'll create a disaster for ourselves
Gaylord NelsonThere is a great need for the introduction of new values in our society, where bigger is not necessarily better, where slower can be faster, and where less can be more.
Gaylord Nelson