Gaylord Nelson
Gaylord Nelson
Gaylord Anton Nelsonwas an American politician from Wisconsin who served as a United States Senator and governor. A Democrat, he was the founder of Earth Day, which launched a new wave of environmental activism...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth4 June 1916
CountryUnited States of America
war past years
All 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.
thinking electrical-power years
I 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.
believe animal years
Dr. 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.
years atmosphere environmental
Loads 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.
base nearly nuclear resource sustains threat war
The threat of nuclear war isn't nearly as important as the threat of the destruction of our resource base which sustains us.
earth events john knows ours peace phrase political
John McConnell may have used the phrase Earth Day before we did, (but) he knows our events were not similar. Ours was a political exercise. His was a peace exercise.
anytime consequences life web
We must recognize that we're all part of a web of life around the world. Anytime you extinguish a species, the consequences are serious.
bush calls himself president
President Bush calls himself an environmentalist. I think his heart's in the right place, but he hasn't demonstrated any leadership.
century half last leadership question
In the last half century we haven't had Presidential leadership that addressed this question in the broadest and most important aspect.
people understand
I don't think most people understand where we're headed.
fights future ought reasonable whether
The fights in future will not be over whether we ought to do something, but over how we ought to do it, and that's a reasonable debate.
government people support
The month of April 2000 will provide an unprecedented showcase for the clean energy options available to individuals, businesses and the government, .. As tens of millions of people take action to support clean energy during Earth Month, the 'New Energy for a New Era' campaign will catapult us toward a clean and affordable energy future.
political-will issues challenges
Reaching 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.
teacher school giving
In 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