Politics, Pollution, and Pandas: An Environmental Memoir

by Russell E. Train

Overview

Russell E. Train, was chairman emeritus of the World Wildlife Fund, has led a remarkable life in conservation and environmental politics. Though many of his contributions have been unsung, Train was the catalyst for many of the nation's most important positive environmental policies that remain with us today. In the current political climate, where party divisions are so sharp and environmental concerns are so often shunted aside, Train's journey as a life-long Republican and an ardent conservationist is an inspiring story.

Much of the important environmental policy Train helped to devise and implement occurred during two Republican administrations, those of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Train served as undersecretary of Interior early in Nixon's administration before becoming chair of the president's Council on Environmental Quality (1970-1973). He then moved on to many accomplishments as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 1973 until 1978. At the end of the Ford administration, Train left government to become president of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the U.S. where he played a key role in developing that institution into the major conservation organization it is today.

Politics, Pollution, and Pandas is a fascinating, behind-the-scenes account of the politics of the environment over much of the last half century, as told by one of its master architects.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781597262972
Publisher:	Island Press
Publication date:	04/15/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	617 KB

About the Author

Russell E. Train, was chairman emeritus of the World Wildlife Fund, has led a remarkable life in conservation and environmental politics. Though many of his contributions have been unsung, Train was the catalyst for many of the nation's most important positive environmental policies that remain with us today. In the current political climate, where party divisions are so sharp and environmental concerns are so often shunted aside, Train's journey as a life-long Republican and an ardent conservationist is an inspiring story.

Table of Contents

Preface Prologue (Or How One Thing Leads to Another) Chapter 1. Washington Beginnings Chapter 2. My Tax Career Clerk of Ways and Means Marriage Minority Advisor Flat Tax Proposal The Treasury The U.S. Tax Court Chapter 3. Introduction to Africa Chapter 4. First Steps in Conservation Chapter 5. From Judge to Conservationist Chapter 6. Under Secretary of Interior Nomination and Confirmation An Early Challenge Duties at Interior The Trans-Alaska Pipeline The Miami Jetport and Other Issues Meeting with Nixon Cabinet Visit to Japan Other International Affairs Man-in-the-Sea Program National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 Trouble with Hickel Meeting with Ehrlichman White House Meeting Departure from Interior Chapter 7. Council on Environmental Quality Council Formation Getting Under Way Air and Water Pollution Controls Refuse Act of 1899 Early Council Activities The Environmental Impact Statement Process Predator Control Reserve Mining Company Citizen Action and the Politics of Environment Ocean Dumping Some Setbacks The Creation of EPA Nixon and the First Annual Report CEQ's Continuing Role National Land Use Policy Shadows and Portents Meeting with Agnew Some Final Thoughts on CEQ Nixon's Ambivalence Chapter 8. International Leadership International Conferences and Agreements The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement The 1972 Soviet Agreement The Stockholm Conference International Whaling Commission World Heritage Trust The CITES Convention Visits to Japan and China NATO Involvement Chapter 9. EPA Under Nixon Nomination and Confirmation Grace Creek Farm Introduction to EPA Energy-Environment Conflicts Cabinet Meetings on Energy Pesticide Regulation Automobile Emission Issues Assault on the Clean Air Act Transportation Control Plans Balancing Acts Chapter 10. EPA and Ford (I) A Clean Air Flap First Ford Cabinet Meeting Economics and the Environment A Second Meeting with Ford Settlement of the Scrubber Issue Strip-Mining Land Use Meeting Meeting at Vail The Maturing of EPA Cincinnati Lab Dedication Governors, Mayors, and Others The "Squeaky" Fromme Threat Toxic Substances Legislation Chapter 11. EPA and Ford (II) Automobile Emission Testing Run-in with John Tower The GOP Convention Nuclear Reprocessing Everyday Life at EPA Last Days at EPA Chapter 12. World Wildlife Fund Return to The Conservation Foundation Return to the World Wildlife Fund Changes at WWF CITES Meeting The Galápagos Islands Ireland Monarch Butterflies Marine Turtles Connectedness on the Amazon Chapter 13. Carter, Reagan, and Bush I Hudson River Mediation Toward the Reagan-Bush Administration A Tough Period Environmentally Regulatory Reform Protecting the Environmental Protection Agency Bush Hospitality to WWF Meetings with Reagan The Bush Presidential Campaign Reilly and the Beginnings of the Bush I Presidency Chapter 14. Of Ostriches and Dinosaurs Strategic Approaches to Environmental Needs The Brundtland Commission Global 2000 Report Year 2000 Committee Chapter 15. WWF Around the World China: Giant Pandas Nepal: Elephants, Tigers, and Rhinos Nepal: The Annapurna Conservation Area Project India and Nepal: Terai Arc Landscape Bhutan: A Rare Opportunity Thailand [Queried in chapter: add a subtitle?] Philippines: Debt-for-Nature Swaps Chapter 16. Conservation and Education: A Global Vision From Species to Ecoregion Education for Nature Chapter 17. An Eleventh Commandment Religion and Ecology From Religion to Superfund National Commission on the Environment Chapter 18. Environmental Ethics, Environmental Leadership Toward an Environmental Ethic Environmental Leadership Epilogue Notes Index

Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Train, Russell E, , 1920-Environmental policy United States History 20th century, Conservation of natural resources United States History 20th century, Environmentalists United States Biography, Cabinet officers United States Biography

Editorial Reviews

"Train has produced a thoughtful and insightful account of a remarkable public career, an account which reflects very fairly the effort during my presidency to strike a balance among the nation's economic, energy, and environmental needs."

President Gerald R. Ford

"This is an adventure story—not among the wild animals he knows so well but among the politicians as he pioneered the efforts to conserve our wildlife, our natural resources, and the very atmosphere that supports us all. It is a history invaluable to those interested in the preservation of our environment; a matter in which we all should be concerned and involved."

Walter Cronkite