Environment: Nixon's Third Round

In a burst of enthusiasm for the salvation of the American environment, President Nixon urged Congress last year to enact a 14-point program of reforms. Members of Congress introduced a score of bills of their own to regulate everything from strip mining to the location of power plants. Yet not a single major piece of environmental legislation passed both houses. While everybody wanted a cleaner America, it appeared, not everybody was ready to pay for it, at least not when the economy was lagging.

Last week Nixon began his third environmental message by excusing Congress's sorry record. He said that

1971 was "quite...