Great Throughts Treasury

"The pervasive nature of pollution, its disregard of political boundaries including state lines, the national character of the technical, economic and political problems involved, and the recognized Federal responsibilities for administering vast public lands which can be changed by pollution, for carrying out large enterprises which can produce pollutants, for preserving and improving the nation’s natural resources, all make it mandatory that the Federal Government assume leadership and exert its influence in pollution abatement on a national scale."

"When I began to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide and carbon in ocean water, just 50 years ago this year, my work was praised for showing more precisely than earlier studies how carbon was distributed in nature. When I persisted in making measurements of the same kind because I found the results interesting as pure knowledge, I was supported by program managers of science - up to a point. This point was reached in 1972, after 17 years of my studies. - Charles D. Keeling"