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stringent as those proposed by the Secretary, and if there are adequate 
enforcement procedures set forth by the State, then the State standard 
shall apply. 
There has been a resurgence of responsibility at the State level of 
government in recent years and we in the Congress have generally 
shown support for this movement by providing opportunities for the 
State to set standards and administer pollution control programs. 
The bill also spells out penalties up to $10,000 per day for dis- 
charging the waste substances outside of designated disposal areas or 
within disposal areas but in a condition which does not meet the 
established standards. 
John Kenneth Galbraith, the economist, has aptly characterized 
ours an “effluent society”. The unimaginable volume of waste which 
we continue to generate has for too long been looked upen as part 
of the price we pay for our standard of living. Now, however, it is 
becoming increasingly evident that Americans want a clean and de- 
cent place in which to live, work and play in addition to the material 
goods they use and enjoy. 
The point has been made many times in the last year that we can- 
not continue to enjoy the high levels of inefficient consumption of 
our resources base without paying for it in terms of a degraded en- 
vironment. We are now at the point where we must begin to restruc- 
ture our relationship with the natural world. 
The changes we must eventually make are monumental, involving 
the very life style of the individual and the way in which he perceives 
the world. These changes will not be made overnight, or perhaps 
even in a generation, but we can make some legislative steps which 
will move us in the right direction. 
T feel that H.R. 17843 is just such an essential legislative step, and 
not really very far removed from the seemingly cosmic changes which 
are required. 
Dr. Paul Ehrlich, the Stanford University biologist, has recently 
shown the environmental affinity of man and wildlife when he said: 
Only a few million people realize that killing off the brown 
pelican is fundamentally killing us off, too; that we depend abso- 
lutely on the stability of complex ecological systems of which 
all these other things are part; that we’re destabilizing them by 
killing other organisms. 
T think man must understand that he is an endangered species 
too. 
Tt isn’t a question of people or animals—it’s got to be both of 
us or we’re finished. 
Mr. Chairman, I am glad to hear scientists of Dr. Ehrlich’s stature 
making these important points, points which the members of this 
committee have been aware of for a number of years. In protecting 
our wildlife, we are protecting ourselves. a 
The list of injuries inflicted upon wildlife by man’s economic activ1- 
ties is both long and depressing. By our prompt action on this and 
similar pieces of legislation, we can slow down and eventually halt the 
lengthening of that list. Sewage, pesticides, and most recently mer- 
cury, are but a few of the poisons we have spread upon the living web 
of life. 
