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15 Envtl. L. 455 (1984-1985)
Environmental Protection: A Brief History of the Environmental Movement in America and the Implications Abroad

handle is hein.journals/envlnw15 and id is 467 raw text is: ARTICLES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT IN AMERICA AND THE IMPLICATIONS ABROAD* By WILLIAM D. RUCKELSHAUS** First I will explain the difference between the Environmental Protection Agency today and what it was like in 1970. I will then relate that difference, and some of the problems I see with the way in which this country manages risk through the Environmen- tal Protection Agency, and other federal agencies, to what I learned while on a recent trip to Indonesia. The environment as a national political issue was discovered in the 1960's. Concern for the environment, of course, had been around quite awhile. However, on the national level, environmen- tal matters had not received anything like the attention caused by the explosion of concerns of the middle to late sixties. One of my first jobs was Deputy Attorney General of Indiana, representing -the Air Pollution Control Board and the Water Pollution Control Board. Those boards had very little power. Public support for do- ing much about air or water pollution was slight, unless the prob- lem was so dramatic that a solution was demanded. It was ex- traordinarily difficult to get legislation passed to make significant improvements. Yet the states had responsibility for protecting the * Adapted from a speech given at the thirty-first National Conference of Law Reviews, sponsored by the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon, March 31, 1985. ** Partner, Perkins, Coie, Stone, Olsen & Williams, Seattle, Washington; for- mer Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1970- 73, 1983-85; LL.B. 1960, Harvard University; B.A. 1957, Princeton University. The views expressed here are those of the author, personally, and do not represent the views of the EPA or the United States.

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