As an unwritten policy, Planet’s Greenspace features tend to steer clear of the hot-button political debates of the moment. Concern for our environment may have unavoidable political implications, but we’re generally more likely to use this page to provide photo depictions of the Appalachian Trail than reports from the campaign trail. This Earth Day, however, I’m breaking from tradition and using today’s column to make a rare endorsement.

After years of inaction on the pressing environmental issues of our time, the country needs a president with bold ideas and a vision for the long-term protection of our resources and lands. We need a president willing to talk about change in the context of climate. We need someone willing to think outside of the fossil fuel-powered box and “go big,” as they say, offering a shock to the system in the spirit of “Nixon goes to China.” It is for those reasons that I’m stepping outside the parameters of my own box to support Richard Nixon for president in 2012.

This April 22nd marks 18 years since Nixon died, so I suppose my endorsement has little value. Ignoring that complication, there’s also the fact that he resigned in disgrace the last time around. But let’s not forget the full legacy of our 37th president. Before Watergate, there was the Clean Water Act, which turns 40 later this year.