Charles F. Wurster '52 Receives Honorary Doctor of Sciences

On May 21, the State University of New York at Stony Brook recognized Charles F. Wurster '52 for his legacy as a founder of the Environmental Defense Fund and a lifelong steward of the environment with an Honorary Doctor of Science degree. In his acceptance speech, Wurster, a professor of Environmental Sciences at Stony Brook's Marine Sciences Research Center for more than 25 years, described the early days of the Environmental Defense Fund and its pioneering legal battle to win a national ban on DDT.

Here is the full text of his speech:

The Power of an Idea

By Charles F. Wurster

First I want to thank President Kenny, Professors George Sterman and Malcolm Bowman for nominating me, and the many people who approved my candidacy for this much appreciated high honor. Let me also thank the dedicated scientists, lawyers, economists, and numerous others who were part of the growing movement of environmental protection. This was never a one-man band, but is a growing army.

I have a lifelong interest in birds. While a post-doc in biochemistry at Dartmouth in the early 1960s, the insecticide DDT was sprayed on Hanover's elm trees to combat Dutch elm disease. Our study found that DDT killed most of the birds in the town. When we realized that DDT failed to save the elms – that the spraying was all costs with no benefit – I decided that DDT had to go. I didn't realize that I had begun a second career – one conventional research and teaching career for which I got paychecks, and another unpaid, parallel one with its own rewards that would continue for more than 40 years. This second career led to the award I received today.

I moved to Long Island in 1965, only to find that DDT was being sprayed onto marshes against mosquitoes. It was damaging marsh fauna in many ways, so a handful of us filed suit against the Suffolk County Mosquito Control Commission.“Sue the Bastards” became our motto, an approach rarely tried for environmental conservation at that time. We were astonished when the court issued a temporary injunction against the Commission. DDT was never used again on Long Island.

But it wasn't quite so simple. The County Legislature confirmed the DDT ban, but then the judge threw us out of court. We did not have standing to sue a government agency. Yet we had done it and won on the merits. We were impressed that we could win by winning, or win by losing.

Taking science into the courtroom for environmental protection seemed like a good strategy, so ten of us formed the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in 1967. We called ourselves a national organization to protect the natural resources of the United States, which was rather presumptuous since we had no money, no office, no staff, not even a letterhead. We had become a Board of Trustees presiding over no more than an idea: Sue the Bastards! A few years later, when we had gotten a few shekels together, our first office was behind the eagle atop the Stony Brook Post Office.

We soon learned that major obstacles stood in our way if we were to stop the use of DDT. The US Department of Agriculture, at that time the regulator of pesticides, had never taken a pesticide off the market when its maker objected. Here was an industry regulating itself. Furthermore, with no standing in court, we could not challenge the government regulator. The courthouse doors were locked, but our strategy was to keep hammering, and if somebody forgot to lock it, we would get our foot in the door.

Our Michigan trustee convinced us to file suit in Michigan to stop a proposed Dieldrin application against Japanese Beetles and to force  cities in Michigan to stop using DDT for Dutch elm disease. Things happened quickly. We got a temporary injunction and a hearing lasting several hours, and we were kicked out of court for the same reasons as on Long Island, all within ten days.

Then it began to snow in Michigan, preventing the Dieldrin application that year. We apparently had support from above! The cities gave up without a fight, and soon we had injunctions against 52 cities, Detroit included. Our strategy was working: we had won by losing!

Our fame as troublemakers was spreading. EDF was invited to do its dog-and-pony show in Wisconsin. Court standing wasn't needed. After a 6-month hearing, EDF had won a ban on DDT in Wisconsin.

It was time to tackle the Feds! EDF filed legal petitions for a ban on DDT with two Federal agencies in late 1969. The agencies made motions to dismiss, and three times the Court denied those motions, keeping us in court. On the third appeal, the court ordered the newly-formed Environmental Protection Agency to hold a hearing on the safety and efficacy of DDT. We had gotten our foot in the door! EDF had won standing to sue the government! The field of environmental law stands on the shoulders of those DDT decisions. Citizens and organizations now sue government agencies as standard practice.

The hearing took a year. EDF's case was based mainly on wildlife damage, especially the thin-eggshell effect that devastated populations of bald eagles, ospreys, peregrine falcons, and others. In June 1972, EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus banned DDT. Two years later, Dieldrin and Aldrin were banned for their cancer hazard. EDF had succeeded in banning three hazardous pesticides while establishing the vital right of citizens to sue their governments.

Now, nearly 40 years later, the bird species I mentioned have recovered dramatically. The DDT problem is dwarfed by potentially catastrophic climate change. The tiny EDF of yesteryear now is global, with 400 employees and 15 offices, two in China and India. The cap-and-trade system that EDF pioneered and that so successfully reduced sulfur dioxide emissions is now before Congress. It would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the best technologies at minimal cost. Some oil and coal industries oppose it. They would risk life on Earth as we know it, but would not run their own cars or homes without insurance. To them, today is more important than tomorrow. After all, what have future generations ever done for us?

But it's time for optimism. We must – and we will – switch from fossil fuels to clean energy sources. A cap-and-trade system will unleash a flood of innovation, green technologies will flourish, and that conversion will happen a lot faster than people now believe.

Graduation speakers are supposed to give advice to graduates, so I'll give it a try. Seek work that you love. Don't settle only for dollars, mansions, or yachts so that you Thank God it's Friday. Make the world a better place. You will also be better, and it's much more fun. Enough money will come. You have an excellent education. The power of an idea is brought to fruition by the power of persistence. The choices will be yours. Thank you very much.