The Negative Impact Of The Environmental Movement

The land now known as America has changed dramatically since the area was taken from the Native Americans. While the Native Americans respected the land and natural resources, the eventual take over from the Americans brought devastating impact to the environment. Rapid population increases, as well as the Industrial Revolution brought forth many negative impacts to the land, air, and ecosystem. The rise of the environmental movement that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s represented a significant shift in thinking in regards to protecting our environment. The impact of the environmental movement has positively impacted our contemporary culture. During the 1960s, more Americans became aware of the negative impacts of pesticides. Awareness regarding the negative impact of pesticides to our environment was raised following the release of Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring (Lytle 57). Carson’s book painted a dreary picture of how pesticides impact humans, animals, and the environment. While

Conservationists adopted the multiple resource use strategy. Rather than simply cut a forest down to be used for profit, the focus of many corporations shifted to ensuring the resources were renewable (Lytle 325). In addition to conservation practices, preservation sought to protect wilderness and unique geographical areas (Lytle 325). This helped raise further awareness to the importance of protecting our environment. The public began to demand action following smog reports in metropolitan areas, and the Santa Barbara oil spill (Schulman 30). The horrors of the impact to animals following the oil crisis shocked the public. Images showed animals covered in oil, along with dead birds along the Santa Barbara coast (Schulman 30). The newfound awareness of environmental issues led President Nixon to pass the Clean Air Act of 1970, as well as a celebration of our world known as Earth Day (Schulman