Earth Day History
By the early 1960s Americans were becoming aware of the effects of pollution on the
environment.
Rachel Carson s 1962 bestseller "Silent Spring" raised the specter of the
dangerous effects of pestisides on America s countrysides.
Later...
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Earth Day History
By the early 1960s Americans were becoming aware of the effects of pollution on the
environment.
Rachel Carson s 1962 bestseller "Silent Spring" raised the specter of the
dangerous effects of pestisides on America s countrysides.
Later in the decade, a 1969 fire on
Cleveland s Cuyahoga River shed light on the problem of chemical waste disposal.
Until that
time, protecting the planet s natural resources was not part of the national political agenda,
and the number of activists devoted to large-scale issues such as industrial pollution was
minimal.
Factories pumped pollutants into the air, lakes and rivers with few legal
consequences.
Big, gas-guzzling cars were considered a sign of prosperity.
Only a small portion
of the American population was familiar with–let alone practiced–recycling.
Elected to the U.
S.
Senate in 1962, Senator Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat from Wisconsin, was
determined to convince the federal government that the planet was at risk.
In 1969
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