April 22^nd marks the 30^th anniversary of the first Earth Day in 1970. Each year, Earth Day provides an opportunity for all Americans to reflect on past achievements and future goals for the environment. During the past 30 years, the American public has increasingly found that our nation’s natural resources need and deserve protection.

    Preserving the environment is not a partisan issue, but rather, an issue that affects each and every one of us. Our world will not sustain our current life styles indefinitely. Global warming, habitat destruction, depletion of our resources and toxic pollution of our air, soil and water continue to put our world’s future at risk. As a Member of Congress, I have fought hard to help achieve a sustainable society for our future generations -- based on sound policy and logical goals.

    The 106^th Congress provides numerous examples of sensible, bipartisan legislation that could have a tremendously positive impact on our environment. One such bill, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, or CARA, would provide unprecedented funding for habitat and wildlife conservation programs, open spaces, urban parks, and programs to protect coastal ecosystems. Most significantly, CARA would provide permanent funding for a variety of environmental programs, including the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has traditionally been subject to the uncertainties of annual appropriations. This legislation would take us back to the original idea of using all offshore oil revenues for stable and steady annual funding of environmental programs. With broad support from both Republicans and Democrats, we have an opportunity to ensure that these funds are used as they were originally intended.

    In addition to CARA, Congress has made significant progress toward protecting the nation’s remaining roadless areas within our national forests. In June, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and I initiated a letter, signed by 168 of our colleagues, urging the President to take decisive action to protect roadless areas in all of our national forests from logging, mining, and other destructive activities. In response, the President directed the National Forest Service to prepare an environmental analysis on how to best conserve the 40 million acres of roadless areas.

    The Forest Service now has begun an open and public rule-making process in response to the quarter of a million citizens who have also urged the Administration to adopt a policy for roadless areas in the national Forest System. The goal of that policy should be to preserve and protect our remaining forest treasures while continuing to keep them accessible for recreational uses. With proper protection, developed through scientific research and sound management policies, these areas will be protected from a variety of ecological problems, including fire, flooding, landslides, logging, and further development.

    Although meaningful progress is being made to protect the environment, Earth Day is about much more than touting our achievements. It is an opportunity to develop new goals, such as focusing renewed efforts on ocean and coastal restoration. In the past few decades, the United States has experienced a degradation of coastal water quality, rapid loss of wetlands, closures of beach and recreational areas, and pollution of fishery and shellfish habitats that diminish the resource base, contaminate seafood, and endanger human health.

    With approximately 53 percent of the U.S. population living in coastal areas, the situation is certain to become more acute with each year that we fail to find new ways to protect our coasts. Southern California is home to nationally significant marine environments, wetlands and estuaries that provide habitat to unique aquatic species, and birds of the Pacific Flyway. We must do all we can to ensure that our coastal resources get the protection they need.

    Earth Day reminds us to celebrate the richness and beauty of our environment. It also is a time to recommit ourselves to the ongoing work of restoring and protecting our beaches, wetlands, forests, and coasts so that future generations can enjoy the natural treasures we have too often taken for granted.

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