January 1
| 1970 | President Richard Nixon signs the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, saying, "The 1970's absolutely must be the years when America pays its debt to the past by reclaiming the purity of its air, its waters and our living environment. It is literally now or never." The statement of purpose begins: "To declare a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment."
"There is a new philosophy underlying the highway program. It is predicated on the fact that social responsibility is an important aspect of highway building . . . . We must be concerned with the effects highways may have on the people living in the areas traversed, on their neighborhoods, their environment, their institutions and their resources." |
