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ESA and the 1968 Election

We see in our rich country the reduction of open space, increasing urban concentration and congest with deterioration of life. These and other problems are not merely developing but developing at accelerating rates…. Underlying all these problems of environmental quality is the problem of population growth.

ESA’s leadership wrote to presidential candidates in 1968
ESA’s leadership wrote to presidential candidates in 1968

ESA’s leadership contacted presidential candidates in 1968 to get their views on creating a Council of Ecological Advisors, a National Institute of Ecology, and a national policy on population size. Hubert Humphrey replied in detail, George Wallace said little, and nothing was received from Richard Nixon. (from Stanley Auerbach Papers, Box 1, Public Affairs Committee 2 file).

From the ESA Archives: ESA letter to 1968 presidential candidates, with responses

See more highlights from the ESA Archives.