Former Oregon Governor Tom McCall, Earthsaver!

Dear Fellow Earthlings,

Tom McCall served as governor of the United States state of Oregon between 1967 and 1975. During that time, he made himself well known by uttering the following statement: “I urge them to come and come many, many times to enjoy the beauty of Oregon. But I also ask them, for heaven’s sake, don’t move here to live.” You see. Governor McCall realized that it is possible to love a place to death -- to "develop" it with concrete and infrastructure and housing and municipalities to the point where there is nothing left.

Was Tom McCall being selfish here?

No!

You can allow someone to stay in your home for a night or two, but that person does not have the right to just move in with you -- especially if we are speaking not of one person but of untold millions, each with kerm trappings, kerm needs, kerm propensity to pollute. No place save Heaven itself is unlimited in its capacity to accommodate all who move into it!

Under Tom McCall's administration -- based on the principle that Oregon's natural beauty must

be preserved and her resources utilized wisely -- Oregon became a center for the environmental

movement. Let me name just three of Tom McCall's noteworthy accomplishments: 1. The Beach Bill. With his efficient communications skills, Governor McCall was able to put "the Beach Bill" into law. This brilliant piece of legislation guaranteed that Oregon's beaches would be accessible to ALL Oregonians, not just the privileged.It also made sure that no Pacific Coast superhighway would be constructed through Oregon. 2. Creation of a Department of Environmental Quality. Tom McCall not only was resposible for the creation of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in 1969, but actively ran it -- and then (being the efficient multi-tasker that he was!) delegated its leadership to a talented man named L. B. Day. McCall was determined to make polluters either mend their ways or close up shop.His greatest commitment was to stop environmental abuses. What made the DEQ really work from its inception was McCall's ability to face down opposition and stand on principle. 3. The Bottle Bill. McCall's sense of timing was very crucial in getting this bill passed and signed into law in 1971. Others had tried to call for a five-cent deposit on all bottles and cans purchased in Oregon, but without success. Tom McCall, was able to change a dream into a reality. Furthermore, passage of the Bottle Bill became a model for recycling that is even now still spreading round the world. The above three accomplishments of Tom McCall are but a few of many. Governor McCall was a true Earthsaver! The influence of Earthsavers has not yet spread sufficiently. I recall with sadness the pollution that I have encountered in what were once pristine places, such as the Falkland Islands (where the exhilarating winds often carried plastic and other trash), the waters just off Waikiki in Hawaii (where plastics of all sorts -- some quite "vulgar" -- bobbed on the ocean surface), the once melodic woods behind my childhood home in Caseyville, Illinois (now devoid of songbirds or anything else but trash and exotic species), the disappearance of large toads from Tsurumi Ward in Yokohama, Japan (whose streets they had once traversed to lay their eggs), the night skies in Saudi Arabia's eastern province so polluted from oil field burn offs that the stars were no longer visible. Just last week I visited the Oregon Coast, rejoicing in the fact that its major noises are the crashing of waves and the calls of seabirds -- not the roar of a superhighway! As you can see in two photos I had taken last week, Oregon still has a bit of natural beauty, thanks in large measure to Earthsaver Governor Tom McCall! As for the map, it shows the superhighway (known as Interstate 5) that does not choke the beauty out of Oregon's share of the Pacific Coast, due to its placement away from the coast.

Steve Walker Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.