Many who heard or read Train’s speech over 40 years ago were shocked. Argu- ably the second or third most im- portant spokesperson for the Re- publican Party about the environment (President Nixon and William Ruckelshaus were the other two) was articulating a proenvironmental position, iden- tifying fossil fuels as a problem, and describing the Earth as a liv- ing organism. Maybe, many hoped, President Nixon was be- coming a proenvironmental pres- ident or at least not an obstacle to the environmental movement. Within months of Train’s speech, the National Environmental Policy Act was passed on January 1, 1970. Language similar to that Act’s preamble can be found in Train’s Bronfman lecture.