Environmental Movements In The Late Twentieth Century

As we have discussed in previous weeks, the industrialization of America throughout the 1800 and 1900s brought continually increasing environmental issues that have carried through to modern society. Many of the movements that were born toward the end of the twentieth century came out of dire need for policy reform and regulations to protect human health and the rapidly deteriorating environment. The rise of modern movements has resulted in fundamental government action, such as the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (Merchant, 480). The creation of the EPA, in particular, helped paved the way to true environmental legislation that brought ecological responsibility to industries …show more content…
As described by Adam Rome, the groups that played the biggest role in modern day movements were “liberals, middle-class women, and antiestablishment young people” (521). Through the mid-1950s and 60s, liberals and elected officials worked hard to make the environment on the national agenda. Two influential advocates of that time were Arthur M. Schlesigner Jr. and John Kenneth Galbraith, who became advisers to John F. Kennedy during his presidency and continued to promote the need for environmental protection throughout the 1960s (512). Additionally, grass-root environmental movements run by women continued to grow into the 1960s as well. While women were actively promoting the environment for several decades before, women activism dramatically grew in the 1950s and 1960s as the role of the “house wife” began to change (516). Lastly, there was a large contribution to the environmental cause by young people in the late 1960s. This support sprouted out of the rebellious movements against consumer culture. The hippie movement of this time also encouraged people to think more seriously about the earth as well