Hum 370
Final Presentation Write Up
Professor Zeiner
Sara Somers
8/16/2017
How the 1960 Counter Culture Led to the Environmental Revolution
The 1960s brought mass amounts of political and social reform in the United States. This counter culture displayed its face in many different fields. Some people flocked to the anti-war effort, some to the feminist movement, and some to the environment. Never before had the country put into effect so many environmental acts. All of the acts and political organizations that became prominent in the 1970s were a byproduct of the environmental downfall of the 1960s. Literature played a large part in this movement, and so did the education of people on what was really happening in the environment. Enough terrible natural disasters occurred, that the public could no longer ignore what they were doing to the planet. The political and activist climate of the 1960s led to the creation of various environmental groups and polices such as the Earth Day, Greenpeace, The Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act.
The Cuyahoga River Fire 1969
The environmental liberation of the 1970s was sparked by the Santa Barbara oil spill, the publication of “Silent Spring,” and various other man created “natural disasters.” The industrial revolution had brought quite a bit of technological advancement to the United States. Most of the country was now running on fossil fuels such as coal. But the country was also secreting mass amount of sewage and toxic run off. Many times, large rivers would catch on fire from the mass amounts of pollutants that were present in the water. The Cleveland Cuyahoga River fire of 1969 is one of the most memorable river fires of the 1960s. The river was heavily polluted by various factories that had been dumping their runoff into the river. Before the fire had caught, it was noted that nothing could grow or live in the river. Then on June 22, 1969 a train was passing by the water, and a spark caught the entire river on fire. The flames only burned for thirty minutes, but it caught the attention of Americans across the country after being published in Times magazine (Latson). Another tragedy that brought awareness to the impact of humans to the public was the oil spill in Santa Barbara in 1969. The drill had been leaking approximately five gallons a day before a crack blew in the pipe leaking three million gallons of oil. Is complete coated thirty miles of the western coast, and heavily effects the popular beach areas. Some historians consider the oil spill “the birth of the modern-day environmental movement.” (Corwin) Apart from the physical disasters that were plaguing the country, the author Rachel Carson brought the first large wave of activism with her book “Silent Spring.” The novel mainly focused on pesticides and DDT and how it was negatively effecting the planet. Carson focused on its effect on humans, animals, and future generations of plants. The focus and purpose of the book was to bring light to the poor agriculture practices that were being done every day and clearly leaving a negative effect on the planet. Carson’s book warned about what would happen if we continued to consume our planet in such a manor (Lear). All of these event of the 1960s sparked the environmental movement that is still happening in our country.
News Report from First Earth Day
The disasters of the 1960s started many organizations and events such as Greenpeace and Earth Day. During the 1960s many younger college age students were filled with the spirit of protest. US Senator Gaylord Nelson saw this and thought that it could be channeled into the environmental movement. He witnessed the Santa Barbara oil spill and wanted to take a stand against what was happening and bring awareness and consciousness. His number one goal with the event was to educate the public on the environment. He described it as “”national teach-in on the environment.”” (“The History of Earth Day) He was also very specifically wanted to involve college age students, because he saw from their work with the Vietnam war that they truly cared about where the country was headed. With the interest of being between spring break and finals, the first nationwide Earth Day was scheduled for April 22. On the first day that the movement was held, 20 million Americans flooded streets, parks, and public areas. As more activists began to discuss their various causes, such as fighting the oil spill, protecting endangered species, or fighting smog, they all realized that they had a common goal and began to become more efficient in their collaborations. From this even sprang acts such as the Clean Air Act, and Engendered Species Act, which will be discussed later (“The History of Earth Day”). Greenpeace, a Canadian based environmentalist group, was also fueled by the tensions and reactions of the 1960s. Their first act was to protest on an island in Alaska, fighting against nuclear missile testing. This protest was sabotaged and unsuccessful, but brought about the birth of one of the largest environmental protection organizations in the world (“History”). These organizations were all able to be created because of the counter culture that had been previously established because of war tensions, feminist movement, and civil rights movements. This motivation continued to snowball until it resulted in political action.
Arguably, two of the most significant environmental acts to come out of the 1960 revolution were the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. From this forward movement, other bills such as the Endangered Species Act were put into action. The Clean Air Act was established in 1970, but had two revisions that occurred in 1977 and 1990. The entire globe was beginning to feel the effects of Smog, which was a result of industrialization. In 1952 London experienced what would grow to be known as “The Great Smog of London.” The smog lasted for five days, after a cold front had trapped in the smoke being emitted by coal burning fires. The combination of the cold front and mass amounts of sulfurous in the air lead to the “Big Smog.”(Klein) Cities in the United States were also beginning to feel the negative effects of their uncontrollable emissions. The Clean Air Act created a national ambient air quality standard. It also identified six compounds that were contributing to the problem. These compounds were ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and lead (Pb). The bill stated that individual states were responsible for their own emissions, and any emissions that drifted into other states (Clean Air Act Requirements and History.) This act has led to various technological advances such as industrial scrubbers. What is now known as the Clean Water Act, was originally created in 1948 as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948. After the Cleveland Cuyahoga River catastrophe and the Santa Barbara oil spill it was clear that the act needed to be revised. The 1972 amendments to the act created stricter regulations and changed the way the government was involved in environmental regulation. The amendment gave the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to implement pollution control programs for wastewater industry standards. It continued to enforce the original requirements but also made it unlawful or any individual to discharge any pollutant from a point source into a navigational water. And lastly it gave funding for the construction of sewage treatment plants. The act would see more rounds of amendments in 1981 and 1987, but the 1972 showed the change in priorities of the American people (“History of the Clean Water Act). They were now looking at the negative implications of industry, heavily regulating what companies were and were not allowed to do, and they were forcing the companies to be responsible for the negative impacts they had on the environment.
The 1960 protest culture lead to multiple organizations and acts that are still being enforced today. The Vietnam War, the draft, and World War II, opened the door for Americans to be an active participant in their government. From the protests that took place, the public was able to see the voice that they truly had. Earth Day had the power to motivate young, college age students and effect change such as the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. Anti-nuclear war activism led to the creation of Greenpeace, which has gone on to be an international environmental protection group. The Endangered Species Act is one of the most protected and well respected environmental acts, and has saved multiple species from extinction, such as the spotted owl. The Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water act are constantly being rewritten and reinforced to prevent natural catastrophes. All of these opened the door to other acts such as Superfund, which continue to promote environmental health in our country. The forward movement for the environment would not have been possible without the various other movements that were present in the 1906s.
Works Cited
“Clean Air Act Requirements and History.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 10 Jan. 2017, http://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/clean-air-act-requirements-and-history. Accessed 15 Aug. 2017.
“History of the Clean Water Act.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 8 Aug. 2017, www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/history-clean-water-act. Accessed 15 Aug. 2017.
“History.” Greenpeace Canada, Greenpeace, http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/About-us/History/. Accessed 15 Aug. 2017.
“The History of Earth Day.” Earth Day Network, http://www.earthday.org/about/the-history-of-earth-day/. Accessed 15 Aug. 2017.
Corwin, Miles. “The Oil Spill Heard ‘Round the Country!” 1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 1989, www2.bren.ucsb.edu/~dhardy/1969_Santa_Barbara_Oil_Spill/Home.html. Accessed 15 Aug. 2017.
Dykstra, Peter. “History of environmental movement full of twists, turns.” CNN, Cable News Network, 15 Dec. 2008, http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/12/10/history.environmental.movement/index.html. Accessed 15 Aug. 2017.
Klein, Christopher. “The Great Smog of 1952.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 6 Dec. 2012, http://www.history.com/news/the-killer-fog-that-blanketed-london-60-years-ago. Accessed 15 Aug. 2017.
Latson, Jennifer. “Environmentalism History: The Importance of Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River.” Time, Time, 22 June 2015, time.com/3921976/cuyahoga-fire/. Accessed 15 Aug. 2017.
Lear, Linda. “Silent Spring.” Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, Linda Lear, http://www.rachelcarson.org/SilentSpring.aspx. Accessed 15 Aug. 2017.
1960's Counter Culture 