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...
More
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
pollutas into the air, lakes and rivers with few legal consequences.
Big, gasguzzling 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, Ne
Less
