The Creative Society Environmental Policymaking in California,1967
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The Creative Society Environmental Policymaking in California,1967-1974 Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Robert Denning Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Paula M. Baker, Advisor Dr. William R. Childs Dr. Mansel Blackford Copyright By Robert Denning 2011 Abstract California took the lead on environmental protection and regulation during Ronald Reagan‟s years as governor (1967-1974). Drawing on over a century of experience with conserving natural resources, environmentally friendly legislators and Governor Reagan enacted the strongest air and water pollution control programs in the nation, imposed stringent regulations on land use around threatened areas like Lake Tahoe and the San Francisco Bay, expanded the size and number of state parks, and required developers to take environmental considerations into account when planning new projects. This project explains why and how California became the national leader on environmental issues. It did so because of popular anger toward the environmental degradation that accompanied the state‟s rapid and uncontrolled expansion after World War II, the election of a governor and legislators who were willing to set environmental standards that went beyond what industry and business believed was technically feasible, and an activist citizenry that pursued new regulations through lawsuits and ballot measures when they believed the state government failed. The environment had a broad constituency in California during the Reagan years. Republicans, Democrats, students, bureaucrats, scientists, and many businessmen tackled the environmental problems that ii threatened the California way of life. Their solutions inspired other states and the federal government to follow California‟s lead. iii Dedication For Lisa and Robbie iv Acknowledgments First, many thanks go to my dissertation committee. Paula Baker brought me into the OSU fold and suggested I look into the California Air Resources Board for a seminar paper. William Childs thought enough of that paper to stick with it as it grew into the present project. Mansel Blackford offered valuable historiographical suggestions and first-hand recollections from his time at UC Berkeley during the Reagan years. Other professors at Ohio State, especially John Brooke, Kevin Boyle, Kenneth Andrien, and Christopher Otter, provided valuable advice, suggestions, and recommendations. Many academics outside OSU, including Mark Rose, Steven Thomas, Thomas Andrews, Jonathan London, Anthony Wexler, and Tim Choy, offered excellent comments on various conference papers and presentations. Louis Warren gave friendship and advice on many occasions. Jefferson Decker and Brian Allen Drake shared their dissertations and offered encouragement. Joseph Pitti, Patrick Ettinger, and Jeffrey Dym served on my thesis committee at California State University, Sacramento, and helped me find my way to Ohio State in the first place. Two of the many archivists and librarians who helped me with this project deserve extra praise. Jennifer Mandel at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library helped chart my path through the gubernatorial papers, and handed me a free pass into the v attached museum where I set foot – for what I am sure will be the only time – on Air Force One. Dace Taube at the University of Southern California helped me gain access to former (and current) Governor Jerry Brown‟s papers. I must also thank the governor for allowing me to rummage through his old files. Thanks also go out to friends and fellow graduate students. I owe rent to Sara Hollister for letting me crash on her air mattress, drive her car, and eat her food during the weeks I spent at the Reagan Library. Tim Wright inspired me to go for a Ph.D. (for good and bad) and provided last-minute copies of articles from across the continent. James Weeks showed me the ropes around OSU, distracted me with fascinating discussions on historical matters that had nothing to do with my research, occasionally dragged me out into the real world, and fed the cats when I was out of town even though they had plenty of food. Rebecca Barrett was my study buddy, racquetball challenger, and the best Rock Band drummer around. Joseph Arena offered plenty of encouragement and helped me through the intricacies of the Italian train system. My greatest debt is to my family, especially Lisa. Even though I dragged her from sunny California to snowy Ohio, Lisa has always been my biggest cheerleader and never doubted my abilities or resolve. She also occasionally served as a researcher, finding information online that by all rights should not exist outside of dusty archive boxes. My son, Robert, was born just as this project reached the writing stage and, thankfully, is still too young to be permanently scarred by my late-night ravings about Ronald Reagan and the minutia of environmental policymaking. vi Vita 1993............................................... Paradise High School 1999............................................... B.A. History, California State University, Sacramento 2004............................................... M.A. History, California State University, Sacramento 2005 to present .............................. Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of History, The Ohio State University Publications “A Fragile Machine: California Senator John Conness,” California History 85:4 (2008). Fields of Study Major Field: History Specializations: Modern United States, Early United States, Latin America vii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v Vita .................................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Improvements, Conservation, and Preservation during the First Century ...... 24 Chapter 3: Environmentalism and Conservation in Postwar California, 1945-1968........ 61 Chapter 4: The Reagan Environmental Revolution, 1966-1969 ..................................... 106 Chapter 5: The War on Pollution, 1967-1969 ................................................................. 141 Chapter 6: The Golden Age of Environmentalism, 1969-1970 ...................................... 171 Chapter 7: The Rise of Popular Environmentalism and a Backlash, 1971-1974............ 206 Chapter 8: Epilogue ........................................................................................................ 257 References ....................................................................................................................... 280 Appendix: Environmental Timeline, 1966-1974 ............................................................ 294 viii List of Figures Figure 1: California Population, 1850-2010 ..................................................................... 30 Figure 2: California Department of Natural Resources Organization, 1936 .................... 41 Figure 3: California Resources Agency Organization, 1967 .......................................... 122 Figure 4: California Resources Agency Organization, 1974 .......................................... 168 Figure 5: California Environmental Agencies Organization, 2011 ................................ 265 Figure 6: Party Votes on Environmental Legislation (State Senate), 1975-2010 ........... 268 Figure 7: Party Votes on Environmental Legislation (Assembly), 1975-2010 .............. 268 ix Chapter 1: Introduction During his campaign for governor of California in 1966, Ronald Reagan called for the establishment of a “creative society” where the people shared in decision-making and the need for a powerful state government would melt away. “There is much to be done in California and much that can be done by a Governor who, instead of turning to Washington for help, turns to the people and leads them in building a creative society in which we rely on their genius, their abilities, and their desires to become active participants instead of merely bystanders, in the building of that society,” Reagan wrote during the campaign.1 Under Reagan‟s opponent, incumbent Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, Sr., the size and power of state government had increased dramatically, most visibly through the construction of massive highway and water redistribution projects. Reagan argued that the oppressiveness of big government had stifled the creativity of Californians, and he hoped to bring about a revolution in the relationship between the citizen and the state. In this new relationship, legislators and bureaucrats would work with businessmen, academics, students, professionals, and workers to solve the state‟s problems. Partisanship would give way in the face of best practices. The state‟s 1 “The Candidates and the Issues,” San Francisco Examiner, 4 November 1966, reprinted in Franklyn C. Nofziger,