The recent challenges to long-standing natural resources statutory laws are an opportunity to revisit the origins of these regulations. Senator Edmund Muskie was a leader 50 years ago in the Clean Water Act, but he began championing its necessity as early as his 1957 inauguration speech when he assumed governorship of Maine. The link below is video of that speech, and his call for clean water can be heard, specifically, at about ten minutes into this tape, though it is worth viewing in its entirety.
https://collection.oldfilm.org/Detail/occurrences/23266
Muskie developed a reputation among the U.S. Senate for his concerns with the environment, as is evident here, when a Maine television station aired a profile of the candidate and its focus is solely on his statement about water pollution.
https://collection.oldfilm.org/Detail/occurrences/15826
Muskie’s leadership interests are on full display in this 1970 campaign video that includes many natural resources images and relies heavily on his Maine associations.
