And then he was gone.“In a flat choice between smoke and jobs, we’re for jobs,” he once told Ehrlichman. We’re catering to the left in all this.” He began moving away from the relatively liberal Republican model of the past two years and, in private, let loose the angry, cutthroat, demagogic Nixon that is his legacy.In the meantime the administration’s actions reflected Nixon’s ambivalence. More of them began to see unspoiled wilderness as a picturesque escape and spiritual salve rather than a mere storehouse of lumber and minerals.Some of those children grew up to be hippies, who espoused a spiritual appreciation for nature. Just before dozing off on an air mattress, beneath a nylon tent, amid the stench of decaying refuse, they may reflect vaguely on the curious unevenness of their blessings. . “They picnic . To Nixon it seemed that environmentalists could never be satisfied: Muskie had accused him of launching a “sham attack on pollution” and said the expensive sewage-treatment plan was still too small, while critics dismissed White House proposals on ocean dumping and land use as insufficient.Rather than face impeachment, Nixon resigned from office on August 8, 1974. The outspoken Ruckelshaus was transferred from the EPA to the FBI, and Train was made the EPA chief, which ensured continued strong leadership at the agency but removed a consistently pro−environment policy voice from the White House.Art Worden, Herald-Examiner Collection/Los Angeles Public LibraryUnable to plug the hole, they activated a device that crushed the pipe and sealed off the well.
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He stressed a balance between economic growth and environmental protection, and said states and the marketplace should bear the costs of protection, not the federal government.As Nixon promised, the first few years of the 1970s were a golden period for environmental action. Nixon’s wife attended the centennial celebration of the National Park Service at Yellowstone, even as the president complained privately that wilderness areas “are only for rich backpackers who have several weeks’ vacation.”Years later, when Whitaker told Nixon he would be remembered for his domestic-policy successes, especially on the environment, Nixon responded, “For God’s sake, John, I hope that’s not true.”Nixon had gone from barely caring about natural resources to making their protection a major federal responsibility. You can really tell someone’s party allegiance by their position on the environment. Get oil out!” “What is involved,” Nixon continued, “is the use of our resources of the sea and the land in a more effective way, and with more concern for preserving the beauty and the natural resources that are so important to any kind of society that we want for the future.