Proclamation 4296—World Environment Day, 1974

On May 4, 1974, I had the pleasure of helping to inaugurate EXPO '74, a six-month long exhibition in Spokane, Washington, dedicated to the improvement of the human environment. This exposition is one of many examples of a deepening concern for the quality of life in America.

While much remains to be done, all Americans can be gratified by the substantial success which has already occurred with respect to a number of environmental concerns. Air quality is improving in most of our urban areas as harmful emissions have been reduced. Water quality is similarly improving. In the Great Lakes game fish are returning to areas from which they had long been absent, due in large measure to the cooperative work which we have undertaken with our Canadian neighbors under the terms of an agreement which I signed with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada on April 15, 1972, in Ottawa. We are working with other nations to deal effectively with a variety of environmental problems, and there will be continued progress.

June 5 will mark the second anniversary of World Environment Day. This date was established by the United Nations as a day on which the peoples of the world can undertake activities reaffirming their concern for the preservation and enhancement of the human environment.

Now, Therefore, I, Richard M. Nixon, President of the United States of America, do, in support of the action of the United Nations General Assembly, call on the people of the United States and United States Government agencies to observe once again June 5 as World Environment Day with appropriate ceremonies and activities emphasizing the concern of Americans for a better environment in which to live.

In Witness Whereof, I hereunto set my hand this fourth day of June in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-four, and of the independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-eighth.

RICHARD NIXON