Rachel Carson's Silent Spring

Part A.
1. When Silent Spring first came out, Carson faced fierce opposition. Why, according to Al Gore, would people try to refute her research, and how did they try to do it? People would try to refute her research because many of them (such as large organizations) profited from all of the pollution that resulted. Most citizens during that time were not well informed about the status of the environment nor how their actions affected it and chemical companies strived to keep it that way. However, when Carson released Silent Spring, it would give the public the opportunity to open their eyes and actually see what was happening around them. Thus, these organizations used every means of hushing Carson and diverting the public’s attention. …show more content…
Contrast Rachel Carson and Al Gore's view of humans' relationship with nature with the views of Carson's opponents. With whom do you agree and to what degree? Carson’s opponents reasoned that they were in the safe zone if they banned pesticides in their home ground but still made profit by exporting them to other countries. Carson’s and Al Gore’s stance on humans’ relationship with nature was that what goes around comes around. They believed that a person’s actions, regardless of what land they were performed on, would inevitably affect them in the future. I agree with the latter because a chain cannot form without the first link. For example, if one person decides to bike to their destination instead of use a car then it will not make a significant difference. However, if there are multiple people who do the same then there will be a far more positive effect in diminishing air pollution. People tend to get influenced when they see what are people are doing, and thus if a person sees a multitude of people riding bikes, they will be more encouraged to bike to their destination as well. A shout for change is what induces an actual …show more content…
He also thought that it allows them to see “the difference that one individual can make”. He repeatedly mentioned how her book was the first to properly shed light on the issue of pollution and that “her achievement was harder won” because she raised awareness for an issue that no one had foreseen. He commends her for being the only one to see through the thick smog while everyone else was blinded. He even mentions how him and his family would discuss Silent Spring at the dinner table and that “Rachel Carson was one of the reasons I became so conscious of the environment and so involved with environmental