Letter: Republicans should honor their environmental history

April 22 is the 50th world Earth Day. It’s an opportunity for all of us, but Republicans especially, to reflect on what was happening back in 1970.Increasingly alarmed by the degradation of their air and water, the decline of wildlife and the unregulated releases of toxins into the environment, Americans urged action and, in 1970, the president signed the National Environmental Policy Act, amended the Clean Air Act to phase out leaded gasoline and created the Environmental Protection Agenc