Former Wisconsin Senator, Earth Day Founder Gaylord Nelson Dies

By Frank A. Aukofer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel



Gaylord A. Nelson,
who spent a lifetime in service to Wisconsin, the nation and the
planet, never stopped fighting on behalf of environmental causes.



The former Wisconsin governor and U.S. senator was the founder in 1970 of Earth Day,
which is regarded as the beginning of the modern environmental
movement. Twenty-five years later, Nelson received the Presidential
Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, for that and his
lifelong work on behalf of the environment.


 Earth
Day was a milestone that, in retrospect, Nelson himself regarded as the
most personally satisfying, although only as the capstone of his
efforts on behalf of environmental protection throughout his political
career and beyond.



After
serving four years as Wisconsin's governor from 1959 to 1963, Nelson
spent 18 years in the U.S. Senate until his defeat in 1980. He could
easily have moved into a life of wealth and privilege as a Washington
lawyer and consultant, but that never was an option he seriously
considered.  Instead, he immediately signed on as chairman, then
counselor, of The Wilderness Society. In his later years, when asked
why he continued to work, Nelson was succinct.



“Our work's not done,” he said.



Nelson
made pre-election headlines last year, charging that the Bush
administration had “failed to lead and actually sabotaged progress on
crucial environmental problems.”  Four more years “could upset 40
years of progress toward cleaner air, cleaner water, resource
protection and a new environmental ethic,” he said in October, adding
that he regretted that Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry had not
spoken out more forcefully on the environment during the debates.



This
past Earth Day, Nelson issued “a wake-up call” that made international
news, accusing [Bush] and Congress of not providing leadership on
population control and other environmental issues.



“For
[Bush] to call for oil drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge is like
burning the furniture in the White House to keep the first family
comfortable,” he wrote.

—

Nelson died Sunday at the age of 89.



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