Pete McCloskey - a pro-environment, anti-war California Republican who co-wrote the Endangered Species Act and co-founded Earth Day - has died. He was 96.
Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, left, admires the bumper sticker on the car of Congressman Pete McCloskey as the congressman looks on, right, in San Jose, Calif., Sept. 25, 1980. Reagan was in the area on a campaign trip prior …FRESNO, Calif. —
McCloskey cited disillusionment from influence peddling and ethics scandals under the George W. Bush administration as reasons why he switched parties in 2007 at the age of 79. “A pox on them and their values,” he wrote in an open letter explaining the switch to his supporters. He earned a law degree from Stanford University and founded an environmental law firm in Palo Alto before making the move to public office. In 1967, he defeated fellow Republican Shirley Temple Black and Democrat Roy Archibald in a special election for the San Mateo County congressional seat.
But his enduring legacy is the Endangered Species Act, which protects species designated as endangered or threatened and conserves the ecosystems on which they depend. McCloskey co-wrote the legislation in 1973, after a campaign by young people empowered by Earth Day activities successfully unseated seven of 12 Congress members known as “The Dirty Dozen” for their anti-environment votes.
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