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Gaylord
Nelson
Founder, Earth Day
April 18-20, 2001
Public Address:
"The Politics of Activism: What it Takes to be an Environmental
Leader in the 21st Century"
Location: Furman University, McAlister Auditorium
April 19, 2001 at 7:30 pm
Gaylord Nelson, former United States Senator (D-WI), became Counselor
of The Wilderness Society in January 1981. Nelson served ten years
in the Wisconsin Senate and was twice elected Governor of the state.
In addition, in 1962 Nelson began his 18-year career in the U.S.
Senate. For 40 years, Nelson has been one of the nation's foremost
environmental leaders, best known as the founder of Earth Day.
Nelson, while serving as Wisconsin's Governor, won approval of a
one-cent-per-pack cigarette tax to finance state acquisition of
one million acres of parks, wetlands and wildlife habitat. It was
the first program of its kind.
In 1971, Environmental
Quality Magazine described Nelson as "the leading environmentalist
in the U.S. Senate." He authored legislation to preserve the
endangered 2,000-mile Appalachian Trail. His efforts resulted in
the establishment of a national trail system in 1986 which included
the Appalachian Trail.
Senator Nelson
was the first to introduce bills to mandate fuel efficiency standards
in authomobiles, control strip mining, ban the use of DDT, and ban
the use 245T (agent orange). In due course, all of these proposals
were adopted by Congress. Nelson also wrote legislation that created
the St. Croix Wild and Scenic Riverway, Apostle Islands National
Lakeshore, the Upper Great Lakes Regional Commission, and Operation
Mainstream/Green Thumb, which employed the elderly in conservation
projects.
Co-sponsor
of the National Environmental Education Act, Nelson's best known
achievement was the founding of Earth Day in 1970. Described by
American Heritage Magazine as "one of the most remarkable happenings
in the history of democracy," Earth Day was designed to make
environmental protection a major national issue that demanded to
be addressed. An astonishing 20 million Americans took part in the
first Earth Day and, as American Heritage wrote, "American
politics and public policy would never be the same again."
In his 14 years
with The Wilderness Society, Nelson has focused his efforts on protecting
America's national forests, national parts, and other public lands.
Recently, he has been concentrating on U.S. population issues and
resource sustainability. He remains actively involved in Earth Day
affairs and served as Chairman of Earth Day XXV, which was celebrated
on April 22, 1995.
Though best
known fro his environmental accomplishments, Nelson has been a leader
on a number of other fronts. He was one of three U.S. Senators to
vote against the appropriation that began the nation's expanded
involvement in the Vietnam War.
Born on June 4, 1916 in Clear Lake, WI, Nelson received a BA in
1939 from San Jose State College and his LLB at the University of
Wisconsin Law School in 1942. He was in the U.S. Army during World
War II for 46 months, serving as first lieutenant during the Okinawa
campaign. Returning to Madison, WI, Nelson practiced law from 1946
to 1958.
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