No. 33: The 1970s called... they're disappointed
...But it's not our fault! (Most likely)
Welcome back!! Last week’s issue was so well received, so I will definitely continue talking about slow living, in the next issue! Sorry for the wait, I just figured it’d be more memorable if you had to wait for it! :)
In the meantime, if you’re new - hi, welcome!! Thanks for reading! - I highly recommend reading my past issues, I’ve done some interesting deep dives into a variety of topics, and I had significantly less readers then, so not many people got to read them!
The 1970s - The most decisive decade for climate action?
Looking back on the EPA’s foundation and the beginning of Earth Day, both in the same year, made me question the rates at which we are moving with climate action today. How do they compare to the 1970s, a radical time in the U.S., despite having a GOP President?!
Today, the reality of our quickly forthcoming, disastrous situation remains a divided issue despite the amount of factual evidence backing up these claims. Yet it didn’t use to be this way. Could it be that consumerism and corporate greed were not such definitive ways of life?
After the release of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962, people and the government started paying attention. Described by Carson as her “poison book,” this placid yet direct blame to consumers awakened the powerful start to environmentalism, bringing forth the horrific realities of pesticides to the average consumer’s forefront.
In the years that followed, 1970, the first Earth Day, marked a tremendous outpouring of support nationwide. 20 million people took the streets in support, Congress took the day off, and The Today Show granted 10 hours of air time to its recognition. The same year the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was born, created by Republican president, Nixon, was the birth of the Clean Air Act, and several groundbreaking environmental policies by 1974, before Nixon’s resignation. (Visit No. 10 for further reading.)
Today, less support is shown for the environmental movement as climate deniers and misinformation seems to spread faster than the climate crisis’s triggered wildfires. Greenwashing, harmful ignorance, and heightened gas prices seem to be more frequent and normalized.
(Yet it can be argued we saw a resurgence of this in 2019, with the global climate strike, where 4 million individuals, namely students, protested the for climate, all because of Greta Thunberg, then 16 years old.) Let me know think in the comments!!
Want to become an activist? Check out this free course for teens!
Other sources: History, The Nation, BBC
Check out…
3 climate takeaways from the GOP speaker meltdown (E&E News)
New York City buys 900 EVs to replace government fleets (E&T)
Your stuff is actually worse now (Vox)
Wrap-up
Sorry for a short issue, it’s been busy over here. Let me know how you’re doing in the comments! :)
Congrats on being a featured Substack publication! 2023 is gonna be a great year :)