OCR Text |
Show GOP Policies Invite Disaster The world position of the United States and the new understanding under-standing of the part played by natural resources in economic growth make some of the traditional policies inadequate. JThere still is need to assess our own and the world's physical holdings of land, water and minerals in relation to prospective demands. There still is need to guard against thoughtless destruction of the complex web of soils, vegetation and water. We must be ever vigilant against ignorant or malicious degradation of those vital resources. But the changing significance of minerals, the spreading intricacies of world trade, and the growing demand for space impose new needs. If it is to survive as a healthy nation in a peaceful world, the United States cannot be content with merely protecting rather than actively developing its mineral and energy sources. It cannot stand back and wait until its green landscape and clean streams are further defaced before stepping in to protect them. It must see its resources not alone as a base for material welfare but as a base for an enriched life that makes constructive use of our increasing leisure and mobility. And it must do so with full recognition of its key role in world affairs. (Continued on Page Four) , " GOP Policies Invite Disaster (Continued from Page 1) In the face of conditions which call for strong and imaginative imagina-tive action, the Republican Administration has taken a generally passive role in the management of our natural resources. It has been willing to abandon basic principles of comprehensive development de-velopment and use for optimum benefiits. Its administration of the long-established policies has been spineless. It has watched precious time being lost in preserving essential resources. It has let private enterprise claim uniquely valuable public sites. Most unfortunately of all, it has failed to give that quality of leadership which can come only from the Executive Branch, in setting the sights high for national action. If there has been a policy in dealing with natural resources in recent years it has been one of muddling along with no "new starts." While the avoidance of new starts in construction projects has been serious, the avoidance of new starts in thinking about the future needs of our people has verged on disaster. |