William Ruckelshaus Quotes

The Congress, the Administration and the public all share a profound commitment to the rescue of our natural environment, and the preservation of the Earth as a place both habitable by and hospitable to man.

I'm sure that many people who are involved in an environmental effort ... they will be pretty much encouraged by this recognition.

We're loosely calling it The River Project, but hopefully the pieces that we put together will be educational pieces that will throw some light on the situation as to what kind of jeopardy may be surrounding our great rivers.

'Being green' is commendable, but I hope that people don't take too much pride and self-adoration because they shut off the water when they brushed their teeth. The truth of the matter is, conservation alone will do little to save our planet.

It is a wonderful honor to receive the Audubon Medal from the National Audubon Society, which for more than a century has fought tirelessly to protect and preserve our natural resources and environment for future generations.

Unless action is taken soon - unless we can display the same vision of that earlier period - we will lose the treasure of California's open space and environmental beauty.

We've got to take care of the resources we have on this planet, because there's no resupply possible.

So I think as a biologist I would like us to focus on this planet and finding solutions to sustaining humanity, to improving people's lives globally, but doing our absolute utmost to preserve as much biodiversity as we can, knowing that we have already been responsible for the loss of thousands of species.

The rich and powerful countries are trying to wreck as much as possible. You know, go off the cliff as soon as you can. Extract every drop of hydrocarbons off the ground and destroy the environment. At the opposite extreme are countries like Bolivia and Ecuador, indigenous people around the world, and first nations in Canada and tribal people in India, campesinos in Colombia... They're trying to save the commons.

We only have this one planet; we got to figure out how to live on it without destroying it.

I don't like the idea of teaching religion in schools, and creation is not my thing, but that's a trivial point compared to saving the creation. I'd much rather have half of the people in the country be creationists and work really hard to save the creation than have everybody be evolutionists and be destroying the planet.

The natural environment sustains the life of all beings universally.

Right now, our mother -- our mother -- all of our mothers, Mother Earth is hurting. And she needs a generation of thoughtful, caring and active kids like all of you to protect her for the future. You can help us win the battle to clean up our air, our water, our land, to protect our forests, our oceans and our wildlife.

To this day, I enjoy nature, the luxury of undisturbed wilderness, forests, mountains, lakes, rivers and deserts and their wildlife. But I also know that the greatest danger to their perpetuity is the pressure of human population.

Government cannot close its eyes to the pollution of waters, to the erosion of soil, to the slashing of forests any more than it can close its eyes to the need for slum clearance and schools.

Planet Earth is our shared island, let us join forces to protect it

For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.

If we do not save the environment, then whatever we do in civil rights will be of no meaning, because then we will have the equality of extinction.

Saving our planet requires you to be ambitious in what you aim, and, equally, in how hard you work to reach your goal.

If environmental protection efforts continue to lag behind economic growth, pollution will become even more rampant.

The real wealth of the Nation lies in the resources of the earth soil, water, forests, minerals, and wildlife. To utilize them for present needs while insuring their preservation for future generations requires a delicately balanced and continuing program, based on the most extensive research. Their administration is not properly, and cannot be, a matter of politics.

We can't impede progress in the name of environmental action that yields little for the environment and even less for our people.. and we should look at the environment as an economic opportunity.

Most of what I know about environmental conservation I learned from my father, who has been a leader within the movement for over 30 years.

Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge, it's common sense.