LUdu
EDITORIAL
A National Center for the Environment On a recent visit to Washington, D.C., I had a few moments to enjoy the sunshine and spring flowers outside of Waterside Mall, the site of EPA headquarters. Later in the day, with a few minutes to spare before leaving the city, I visited the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, one of my favorite places to recharge. As I sat on the steps of the EPA courtyard, and later as I sat in the cafk in the East Wing overlooking the Capitol, it occurred to me that we do not have a national shrine to environmental protection. It is true that the Smithsonian Institution regularly includes exhibits on various aspects of natural history and the environment. One could argue, I suppose, that our National Parks are the ultimate monuments to the environment, and in a marvelous way they are. Those of us who have the opportunity to occasionally visit Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, or the Great Smokes are deeply indebted to the men and women of vision who protected these incredibly beautiful areas. But my thoughts in Washington that day focused on a different way in which we might protect our environment: by the symbolism and educational power of a National Center for the Environment in our nation’s capital. I was thinking, dreaming perhaps, of a grand new headquarters for EPA, a structure of outstanding beauty that would serve both as a home for the agency and as a museum and arboretum dedicated to environmental protection. In my vision the setting of the Center was spacious enough to include a natural area with plants from all regions of the country, creating an environment that would serve both as an educational vehicle and as a place of rest and contemplation for those
0013-936X/88/0022-0723$01.50/0 0 1988 American Chemical Society
who visited. Inside and out it had exhibits to illustrate the beautiful complexity of our natural environment; the effects of man’s activities on nature’s balance; and the efforts we are making to provide clean air and water for life’s sustenance in a complex, industrial society. The exhibits showed the interconnection between the health of man and the purity of the natural environment, and the precarious balance that we must maintain to keep our natural systems intact. The value of such a Center would be manifold, in my view. First, it would be a lesson to the children who come in such large numbers to visit the capital each year, a lesson that the environment is a matter of great national importance-as important as space exploration, the arts, our national history, and other forms of our culture. Second, it would serve as a symbol to our foreign visitors that protection of the environment is a matter of highest priority to this country. Third, it would be an indicator that we appreciate the public servants in EPA enough to provide for them a home fitting to their important tasks. Finally, the Center would serve to remind Congress and the executive branch that the environment is a national resource that they must constantly protect. I do not know if this vision will ever become a reality, but I hope that it can.
Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 22, No. 7, 1988 723
