Ford's Middle Course

When he was a Congressman, Gerald Ford voted for many bills to clean up the nation's air and water. But he also supported such anti-environment measures as funding the SST and easing pesticide restrictions. As President, Ford has maintained the same ambivalence. He has hinted at times that environmental protection is an exorbitant luxury that slows economic growth; at other times he seemed to see it as an ecological necessity. No one was sure where he stood on the subject.

Last week Ford cleared up the situation with his first official statement on environment. In a message prefacing the fifth annual report of the Council on Environmental Quality, he expressed faith in the nation's ability to improve its economy while bettering its environment. A policy of trade-offs between economic and ecological realities, he wrote, "in my judgment is the course we must continue to follow."

Rising Cost. Those words are not as bland as they sound. The CEQ's 597-page report describes how far the nation has come in cleaning up its environment--and how much is left to be done. To curb pollution by 1982, CEQ says, the nation must spend about 1% of its gross national product every year on environmental safeguards, or a total of $195 billion. Most of the money will be paid by consumers, as industries and state and local governments pass along the costs of antipollution equipment. Last year the annual per capita charge for environmental protection was $35 to $40; in 1976 it will probably rise to $80.

The CEQ report also makes it clear that following Ford's middle course will affect more than the American pocketbook. If land is going to be used more wisely--a top environmental priority--the landowner will have to give up some of his traditional freedom to decide what to do with his property. Similarly, citizens who want more energy must accept oil spills, strip mining and other environmental problems that even expensive technology cannot completely control. Ford writes that the environmental movement has "matured" enough to go along with these compromises. Whether that will prove to be the case depends in large part on the President's ability to steer the middle course that he now seems to have chosen.

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