Tropical forests are more necessary to all of us in the long run than oil, yet we pay lots of money for oil, but expect the tropical countries to maintain the tropical forests for the good of the world solely out of the kindness of their hearts. No red-blooded American would tolerate such an imposition herself, and we can no longer get away with making such impositions upon Third World countries. We need to supply some of the initiative and directive in preservation of tropical forests, and we need to develop a plan that will bring the guardians of tropical forests solidly into the modern world. This plan must make them feel economically secure, but permanently and irretrievable dependent upon the survival of the tropical forests for their own financial well being. In short, we need to pay for tropical forests. Some proposals: We should join together with all the other non-tropical countries and share in the following-

1. Guaranteed purchase of certain amounts of tropical forest products, such as Brazil nuts, rubber, bananas, or whatever is considered to be tropical forest products.

2. Guaranteed purchase of certain numbers of blocks of tourist trips, bought by the US Government and sold to the public.

3. Stop buying things from them that encourage them to clear rainforests. Things like beef and grain products, for instance.

4. Help them farm tropical lumber products like we do pines in this country.

COMMENT: This is not an exhaustive list of environmental laws. Lots of people have lots of good ideas on the subject. I would like to have a close look at World Watch Institute's package of environmental tax proposals. We need an international set of rules governing ocean fishing, along with an international navy to police these rules.