Of all U.S.A Presidents to come and go since Republican Teddy Roosevelt, who has best championed for biodiversity and and a healthy environment?..........You might be surprised to learn it is Republican Richard Nixon..............Inspite of his "unforced error" with Watergate, Dick Nixon was all-in on doing tangible things that impacted all living things lives the moment he signed a piece of environmental legistation, not like some who say they are "Green" and offer "pie in the sky" environmental recipes that either are years away from implementation or are so impractical that they will never see the ligt of day

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.ohio.com/news/20190721/wild-side-richard-nixons-environmental-legacy&ct=ga&cd=CAEYASoUMTAzNzA2NjUzNTYwMDI3OTkxNDgyGjU2ZDFlN2YxOWU4Zjk5OTE6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNFZYgfWXAkGOxe6b00IVwwrI4uOWg

THE WILD SIDE: Richard Nixon’s environmental legacy

July 21, 2019

Most Americans who remember President Richard Nixon probably associate his name with the Watergate break-in and his abbreviated presidency. Despite Nixon’s self-inflicted problems, I remember him as the greatest environmental president of my lifetime.

Among Nixon’s environmental accomplishments: 

He signed into law the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. 

It encouraged harmony between man and his environment; it promoted efforts to prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man; it sought to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation; and it established a Council on Environmental Quality. 

In 1970 he signed the executive order that created the 

Environmental Protection Agency. Its mission was to conduct environmental assessments, research, and education on projects that use federal funds.

The Clean Air Act of 1970 regulated air emissions from stationary and mobile sources to protect public health and public welfare and to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants.

Finally, the Clean Water Act of 1972 established the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters.

Without these laws over the last 50 years, the U.S. would be an environmental sewer. Can you imagine what the air and water in Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and other major industrial cities would look and smell like today? 

Nixon also saw the looming threats to American wildlife. The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 covered species such as whales, sea otters, walruses, polar bears, manatees, seals, and sea lions. It is a primary reason many whale populations have rebounded from endangered levels. 

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 passed the Senate in a voice vote and passed the House 355-4. The power of this legislation has helped rescue everything from bald eagles, peregrine falcons, whooping cranes, and California condors to grizzly bears, black-footed ferrets, alligators, and Kirkland’s warblers from the brink of extinction. Rarely does Nixon get the credit he deserves for his broad environmental agenda.

The final piece of Nixon’s environmental legacy, the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, was proposed by Nixon, passed by Congress in 1974, but actually signed into law by President Gerald Ford. It became a turning point in efforts to protect the nation’s lakes, streams, rivers, wetlands and other bodies of water. The law requires actions to protect drinking water and its sources, including reservoirs, springs, and groundwater wells to protect public health. Thanks to Richard Nixon, the United States has spent the last 50 years recognizing and addressing our most pressing environmental problems.