Former Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson died at his home in Kensington today. Senator Nelson early and ardent supporter of evnironmental causes, calling for a nationwide program to save the national resources of America, saying that, “Our soil, our water, and our air are becoming more polluted every day. Our most priceless natural resources - trees, lakes, rivers, wildlife habitats, scenic landscapes - are being destroyed.”

He successfully lobbied President Kennedy into adopting an environmental program, sponsored the Wilderness Act of 1964, and came up with the idea for Earth Day, which he hoped to model after the teach-ins of the antiwar movement.

He was just one of three United States senators who voted against the $700 million appropriation that began the nation’s expanded involvement in the Vietnam War.

When Mr. Nelson was a boy, his father took him to hear Robert “Fighting Bob” LaFollette, the leader of the Progressive Party, deliver a speech from the back of a train, an event that the future senator said inspired his interest in politics.

Unfortunately the Democratic Party has left him behind. I would like to think that he would be more at home in the Green Party today than with the Democrats.

Rest in Peace, Gaylord Nelson.