Jimmy Carter

“ On the first day of the new decade, the National Environmental Policy Act became the law of the land. This law is one of our Nation's fundamental charters: it is a pledge from each generation to the next to protect and enhance the quality of the environment.
Through the National Environmental Policy Act which created the Council on Environmental Quality, the Nation affirmed the fundamental importance of the environment to our well-being. Our environment shapes our lives in endless ways: it can be dangerous or it can be safe; it can produce a bounty to sustain us or it can be laid bare ”

“ Let us rededicate ourselves to the creation and maintenance of safe and healthy surroundings, to the wise husbanding of the natural resources that are a pillar of our well-being, and to the protection of free-flowing streams, majestic mountain forests, and diverse cityscapes pulsing with life. ”

“ We have now begun to make a serious investment in the quality of the environment at home and abroad. The earth is a fragile asset. The return on wise investments in our environment will be reaped not only by ourselves, but by generations of our descendants. ”