On Elections, Pendulums, and Perspective | (ACOEL) | American College of Environmental Lawyers

Let me state this at the outset. I am a lifelong ACLU Liberal Democrat who has never voted for a Republican. Thus, the results of the election on November 5th put me in a deep funk. Nothing that has happened since that time, whether it be comments by President-elect Trump, or his nominations for cabinet positions, has done anything to take me out of that funk. I thought maybe it is true that the voters get the government they deserve. Until yesterday. Yesterday I had some time to reflect on where we are regarding Democracy, the Rule of Law, climate change, and the environment, and where we might be going. That reflection did give me some perspective and did go some way to alleviate my former despair.

In 1968 I was a first-year law student at the University of Florida in Gainesville. I was a resident of Miami and there was no early or mail-in voting. I drove more than 800 miles to Miami and back to not only vote for Hubert Humphrey but also to vote against Richard Nixon. Nixon won. I went into a deep funk. But now, with the benefit of hindsight, I recall that in1969 NEPA was passed and Nixon signed it. In 1970 Nixon signed an executive order creating the Environmental Protection Agency. In 1971 the Clean Air Act was passed and Nixon signed it. In 1972 the Clean Water Act was passed and Nixon signed it. In 1973 the Endangered Species Act was passed and Nixon signed it.

In 1980 I was practicing environmental law in Atlanta after serving as an Assistant US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia where I represented, among other agencies, the USEPA. I donated to, campaigned for, and voted for Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election. Ronald Reagan was elected. Another funk followed. But Ronald Reagan was a Westerner, a consummate horseman, loved the outdoors, and in his own way was a conservationist. Although he gave us James Watt, Anne Gorsuch, and Rita Lavelle, in 1982 he signed the Coastal Barrier Resources Act and in 1987 he signed the Montreal Protocol. He also added more than 10.8 million acres to the National Wilderness Preservation System.

I have now been practicing environmental law for over 50 years. I have seen administrations come and administrations go. I know that the pendulum swings sometimes right and sometimes left, but comes back inevitably and inexorably to the center. I also know that surprising things that no one can anticipate happen, and that change is constant. I do think that for the near future we are in for difficult times for environmental regulation and enforcement and that significant retrenchment will occur. To quote John McCain, a Republican I respected, “It is always darkest just before it turns pitch black.” I think it is going to get pretty damn dark, but my experience tells me the pendulum will swing, change will come, and at some point, perhaps sooner than I think, the light will breakthrough. That, at least, is where I put my hope.