The History and Purpose of the Environmentalist Movement

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The movement that will be discussed is the Environmental Movement. This movement focuses on the environment and the well-being of the Earth. The Environmental Movement began on April 22, 1970, with the celebration of the first Earth Day. This movement was first created as a way to raise awareness about the Earth and its poor condition. This movement has widely been accepted as a Reform Movement as it was originally created to help make the world a better place (sociologyguide.com).
Since the time of the first Earth Day, the Environmentalists have become so concerned with the plants and animals of the environment that they have begun to paint the picture that humans are the enemy and the real reason why so many ecosystems are failing. Today’s Environmentalists have launched many campaigns regarding environmental problems, including pollution and global warming. Since the time of its conception, this movement has received funding from the giving of money by the different members of the movement and through the everyday person’s tax money.
Pollution has been one of the leading issues on the Environmentalist agenda practically from the creation of the movement. Many people claim that our Earth is dying because of the pollution caused by humans. Before the Movement actually began, the Environmentalists already had the ‘perfect picture’ to use to prove their point, the Cuyahoga River in Colorado. According to witnesses, this river was so polluted, that when it caught fire, it burned. Scientists have claimed that the river had actually caught fire ten times by 1970. It was around this time, that President Nixon signed three different Acts into law: The Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Endangered Species Act (Dykstra, 2008).
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...s, turns”. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/12/10/history.environmental.movement/index.html?iref=nextin. Mon. December 15th, 2008. Web. April 17th, 2014.
Gordon, Erin L. “American Center Environmentalist June 2012 Newsletter”. http://photos.state.gov/libraries/mumbai/498320/fernandesma/June_2012_001.pdf.
Modern Environmental Movement. http://feelfriendly.com/environment-movement-discussing.html. 2010. Web. April 18th, 2014.
Introduction to Environmentalism. http://feelfriendly.com/environmentalism-a-short-introduction.html. 2010. Web. April 18, 2014.
Brulle, Robert J. “The U.S. Environmental Movement”. http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~brullerj/Twenty%20Lessons%20in%20Environmental%20Sociology-Brulle.pdf. n/d. Web. April 19th, 2014.
Clabough, Raven. “Government to spend twice as much on global warming than border patrol”. Wed. October 30, 2013. Web. April 19th, 2014

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