FINAL PAPER (Writing Seminar)

In American studies the 1970s have typically been viewed as a decade of transition and

conflicting goals forged from the ldquorevolutionsrdquo of the 1960s Historiography relating to the

decadersquos environmental movement proves no exception to this trend Time and time again this

struggle is reiterated as a teleological outcome of conversations set in motion by widespread

fears of technological catastrophe the theories of academics such as Rachel Carson and the

lifestyle of countercultural forces that defined post-war America In addition an all-too-common

image of ldquoDeep Greenrdquo hippies locked in ideological combat with conservative business elites

pervades these dialogues This tendency extends to the present with some commenting that

current debate over global warming has boiled down to nothing more than a ldquoculture warrdquo over

ldquovalueshellipand ideologyrdquo1

Unfortunately this view of history overlooks the unique significance of 1970s

environmentalism On a technical level one cannot begin to comprehend its contributions

without understanding previous revelations regarding humanityrsquos ability to influence ecology

However appreciation of 1970s environmental achievements should not be defined by the shifts

of the 1960s This paper argues that the 1970s marked the ldquopractical maturationrdquo of

American environmentalism and inception of its most enduring scientific justifications

ldquoPractical maturationrdquo defines improvement and efficiency in instigating change in political

affairs while ldquoinceptionrdquo refers to development of three groundbreaking scientific realizations

that marked turning points in the refinement dissemination and endurance of environmental

thought The former is analyzed through the success of political environmental institutions and

civic demands The latter is explored through an analysis of 1970s scientific literaturersquos attempt

1 Andrew J Hoffman ldquoClimate Science as Culture Warrdquo Stanford Social Innovation Review Fall 2012 accessed 4514 httpwwwssirevieworgarticlesentryclimate_science_as_culture_war

to qualify warnings of ecological catastrophe and quantify the extent of damages followed by an

assessment of its success through future peer review and influence In conclusion political and

philosophical breakthroughs are brought together to paint an effective and complex

environmental movementmdashone brought to adolescence through the youth of the Cold War but

physically mature and learning ldquothe way of the worldrdquo by the end of the 1970s

With this being said no understanding of lsquo70s environmental history is complete without

some knowledge of the movementrsquos foundations Essentially the story of ldquoenvironmentalismrdquo

details the story of an unprecedented amendment to centuries-old intuitionmdasha reversal of the

belief that human activity could never upset the ldquoGod-givenrdquo ldquostate of naturerdquo in its pursuit of

material ldquoprogressrdquo The rise of the Industrial Revolution from the mid-18th century to the first

decades of the 1800s wrought groundbreaking prosperity upon the United Kingdom and the

United States and spurred a popular consensus that all technological advancements equated to

change for the good of mankind2 The first serious blow to this paradigm occurred approximately

two decades before the dawn of the 1970s as total war radically altered notions of the

destructive capabilities of human technology The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

on August 6-9 1945 epitomized the worst of these fears and concerns about the devastating

power of nuclear weapons extended beyond the popular and occasionally laughable theories of

ldquocold war culturerdquo For the first time scientists began to publically support the notion that human

invention had reached a capacity to alter the state of the Earth Upon or around his witnessing the

detonation of the first atomic bomb in Trinity New Mexico on July 16 1945 Manhattan Project

director Robert Oppenheimer (mis)quoted the Bhagavad Gita by stating ldquoI am become death the

2 Spencer R Weart The Discovery of Global Warming (Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press 2003) 7

destroyer of worldsrdquo3 That same year Oppenheimer and other Project participants formed the

Federation of Atomic Scientists advocating international control over atomic weapons4 Albert

Einstein publically asserted that any World War waged after a nuclear exchange would be fought

with ldquorocksrdquo5 and that widespread use of these devices would kill ldquoperhaps two thirds of the

people of the Earthrdquo6

As recognition of mankindrsquos newfound ability to destroy the world at the push of a button

leapt from the unspoken fringe to the forefront of foreign policy other questions regarding lethal

technology began circulating among scientists and set the stage for important 1970s

breakthroughs Crucial to these was the widespread use of DDT a synthetic pesticide first

deployed in the fight against malaria at the close of World War II As the compound became

popularized throughout the United States multiple studies linked its use to cancer and species

endangerment7 This evidence motivated biologist Rachel Carson to publish her 1962 book Silent

Spring a work widely considered to be a pivotal awakening for ldquoenvironmental consciousnessrdquo8

The bookrsquos opening remarks condensed the leap from atomic to synthetic dangers in stating

ldquochemicals are the sinister and little-recognized partners of radiation in changing the very nature

of the worldmdashthe very nature of liferdquo9 Carson warned that ldquoevery human being is now subjected

3 James A Hijiya ldquoThe Gita of Robert Oppenheimerrdquo Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society vol 144 no 2 (June 2000) 123 httpwwwamphilsocorgsitesdefaultfilesproceedingsHijiyapdf4 Federation of Atomic Scientistsm ldquoAbout FASrdquo Fasorg updated 2013 accessed 42214 httpswwwfasorgaboutindexhtml5 Anne Rooney Einstein In His Own Words (New York Gramercy Books 2006) 1566 Abby Cessna ldquoAlbert Einstein Quotesrdquo Universetodaycom Updated 21110 accessed 42014 httpwwwuniversetodaycom55516albert-einstein-quotes7 Brenda Eskenazi et al ldquoThe Pine River Statement Human Health Consequences of DDT Userdquo Environmental Health Perspect Sep 2009 117(9) 1359ndash1367 published online May 4 2009 httpwwwncbinlmnihgovpmcarticlesPMC27370108 Eliza Griswold ldquoHow lsquoSilent Springrsquo Ignited the Environmental Movmentrdquo New York Times published 92112 accessed 33014 httpwwwnytimescom20120923magazinehow-silent-spring-ignited -the-environmental-movementhtmlpagewanted=allamp_r=09 Rachel Carson Silent Spring (New York Houghton Mifflin Company 1962) 6

to contact with dangerous chemicalsrdquo10 and cited arsenic benzene hexachloride and herbicide 2

4-D among a plethora of toxic hazards in addition to DDT11 From the bookrsquos publication to her

death in 1964 Carson argued for an end to DDTrsquos use out of concern for human survival in

ravaged environments An avalanche of ecological speculation followed in her footsteps

The remainder of the 1960s saw to a steady stream of new and dire environmental

predictions the beginnings of environmentalist legislation and the first hint of tangible

consequences that went on to preoccupy 1970s reformers and theorists Politically 1963 saw to

the movement of all nuclear weapons tests underground via the US and USSRrsquos Nuclear Test

Ban Treaty partially prompted by research into the presence of strontium 90 in childrenrsquos teeth12

Three pieces of Congressional legislation the Water Quality Noise Control and Solid Waste

Disposal Acts of 1965 established environmental quality standards for US states Two years

later the Clean Air Act authorized planning grants to state air pollution control agencies One

day after the close of 1969 President Richard M Nixon signed the National Environmental

Policy Act into law13 Philosophically December 1 1968 witnessed the publication of Garrett

Hardinrsquos essay ldquoTragedy of the Commonsrdquo in Science magazine14 On a more alarming note Dr

Paul R Ehrlichrsquos 1968 bestseller The Population Bomb warned of the collapse of civilization due

to unrestrained population growth within twenty years15 Tangibly environmental disasters

supplemented the flourishing movementsrsquo claims to legitimacy A January 31 1969 oil well spill

10 Ibid 1511 Ibid 50-51 59 75-8012 Dennis Hevesi ldquoDr Louise Reiss 90 Who Helped Ban Atomic Testing Dies at 90rdquo New York Times published 1102011 accessed 41914 httpwwwnytimescom20110110science10reisshtml_r=013 Matthew J Lindstrom and Zachary A Smith The National Environmental Policy Act (College Station Texas AampM University Press 2001) 5014 Garrett Hardin ldquoThe Tragedy of the Commonsrdquo Science Vol 162 no 3859 (13 December 1968) 1243-1248 DOI 101126science1623859124315 Paul Ehrlich The Population Bomb (New York Ballantine Books 1968) 131

in Santa Barbara California coated 30 miles of beaches with tar until its capping a week later16

Yet most dramatic of all calamities was the June 22 1969 ignition of the Cuyahoga River in

Cleveland Polluted to the point of combustion an oil slick blaze17 delivered $100000 worth of

damage to two railroad bridges and provoked national outrage18

Amassing these facts 1945-1962 can be historically categorized as beginning of

environmentalist questioning while the remainder of the 1960s represent the birth and early

development of formal ldquoenvironmentalismrdquo As the 1970s dawned the idea that human activity

could severely damage natural environments and public well-being had cracked the academic

mainstream Russell E Train future administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency

summarized this increasingly popular sentiment at a 1970 speech before the American Public

Health Association by stating ldquowe are faced with a worsening health crisis of planetary

proportionshellipour air and water and soil and cities are sick and the sickness is peoplerdquo19 Backed

by U S Senator Gaylord Nelson Americarsquos first ldquoEarth Dayrdquo took place on April 22 1970 and

organized general themes of environmental degradation for a public audience20 The legislative

victories of 1965-1969 also reveal that by the end of the 1960s federal law was beginning to

organize a monopoly of force in favor of environmentalist desires The course of the next decade

saw to the improvement of environmental law enforcement and new governmental actions across

a broader spectrum of environmentalist concerns Additionally environmentalists acting within

the American legal system helped to hold polluters accountable under the threat of lawsuits

16 Dr NK Sanders ldquoThe Santa Barbara Oil Spill Impact of the Environment (1969)rdquo in The Environmental Moment 1968-1972 ed David Stradling (Seattle University of Washington Press 2012) 54-5517 Michael Rotman ldquoCuyahoga River Firerdquo Cleveland Historical accessed April 19 2014 httpclevelandhistoricalorgitemsshow6318 Louis Stokes ldquoAddress in Congress Supporting Rivers and Harbors and Flood Control Act of 1970 delivered 1271970 Congressional Record v 115 part 14 (91st Congress 1st Session) page 4015019 Russell E Train ldquoPrescription for the Planetrdquo (presentation American Public Health Association New York NY 1970)20 Mary Graham The Morning After Earth Day (Washington DC The Brookings Institution 1999) 1

These combined efforts of 1970s activists defined an effort which in the words of journalist

Mary Graham would come to represent ldquoa rare and remarkable achievement in American

government the successful introduction of a new theme into national policyrdquo21

Perhaps no other step better assisted the ldquomaturerdquo enforcement of environmental

regulations than the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency President Richard M

Nixon addressed the United States Congress on July 2 1970 announcing the creation of the new

organization to strong approval22 On December 2 1970 an executive order entitled

ldquoReorganization Plan No 3rdquo formally established the Environmental Protection Agency

following this President Nixon appointed William D Ruckelshaus as first administrator23 These

actions fundamentally rearranged the enforcement of environmental legislation Various legal

functions formally bestowed upon the Secretaries and Departments of the Interior Agriculture

Health Education and Welfare and upon the Atomic Energy Commission by the Water

Pollution Control Act Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and previous legislation related to

insecticides food cosmetics air pollution and waste management were now organized under the

responsibilities of the EPA24

The benefits of this approach established groundbreaking efficiency In his explanation to

Congress Nixon argued ldquothe Governmentrsquos environmentally-related actions have grown up

piecemeal over the yearshellipthe time has come to organize them rationally and systematicallyrdquo25

Furthermore the President observed that ldquoour national government today is not structured to 21 Graham 322 Joel A Mintz Enforcement At The EPA High Stakes and Hard Choices (Austin TX University of Texas Press 1995) 2023 Ibid24 Richard Nixon ldquoReorganization Plan No 3 of 1970rdquo FR 15623 84 Stra 2086 effective December 2 1970 202-203 lthttpwwwgpogovfdsyspkgUSCODE-2011-title5pdfUSCODE-2011-title5-app-reorganiz-other-dup92pdfgt25 Richard Nixon ldquoMessage of the Presidentrdquo (speech Washington DC July 9 1970) United States Government Printing Office httpwwwgpogovfdsyspkgUSCODE-2011-title5pdfUSCODE-2011-title5-app-reorganiz-other-dup92pdf

make a coordinated attack on the pollutants which debase the air we breathe the water we drink

and the land that grows our foodthe environment must be perceived as a single inter-related

system [and] present assignments of departmental responsibilities do not reflect this

interrelatednessrdquo26 As the 1970s progressed Nixonrsquos observations were vindicated as the

responsibilities of environmental enforcement previously reserved for state and local

governments shifted to the federal government The ldquointerrelationrdquo of federal powers related to

environmental protection curtailed ecological abuses in a previously unseen display of efficiency

and affectivity in short environmental protection ldquomaturedrdquo on a national stage

To demonstrate its commitment in the face of extensive publicity the EPA robustly

asserted its authority within days of formation and wrought tangible changes The remaining

weeks of 1970 witnessed the Agencyrsquos enforcement of the Clean Air Act setting new criteria for

air pollutants automobile emissions and state air quality plans27 1972 saw to the limitation of

lead use in consumer goods and beginnings of Great Lakes decontamination28 Crucially the

Environmental Protection Agency extended theory to practice through its 1972 ban on DDT use

within the United States29 In 1973 the Agency began a ldquophase-outrdquo on the presence of lead in

gasoline that would reduce atmospheric lead content by 98 nation-wide30 In this same year the

first permit limiting factory pollution discharges into waterways was enacted over more than

45000 facilities31 Through 1974 water pollution standards would continue to improve through

the enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act32 1975 witnessed the Agencyrsquos monitoring of

26 Ibid27 Carol M Browner ldquoStatement on EPArsquos 25th Anniversaryrdquo Environmental Protection Agency updated December 1 1995 accessed 4214 httpwww2epagovaboutepastatement-epas-25th-anniversary28 Ibid29 Ibid30 Ibid31 Ibid32 Ibid

the performance of motor vehicles under new fuel economy regulations leading to the

installation of catalytic converters in new machines33 In 1976 new hazardous waste standards

were enacted that led to the support of a 1978 ban of carcinogenic PCBs (or

polychlorinatedbiphenyls) nationwide34 1979 closed the 1970s with an additional ban on two

popular herbicides containing cancer-causing dioxins35

These reforms were not initiated without the conquest of many significant hurdles yet the

resolution of each further signaled ldquopractical environmentalismrsquosrdquo ldquomaturityrdquo The transfer of

environmental oversight from the state to federal level generated significant resentment of the

EPA in the eyes of local authorities36 Congressional oversight also led to resistance by those

affected by politically unpopular EPA decisions37 However the greatest obstacle of all stemmed

from relative ignorance over what constituted sound ldquoenvironmental protectionrdquo Politically pre-

existing legislation offered few directions standards and requisites for curtailing pollution38

Around 1972 this condition was relieved through the passage new environmental legislation

(including the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the Ocean Dumping Act) with clearer

parameters39 Scientifically technical solutions to the reversal of pollution would be realized

through government-sponsored research Despite each of these challenges the Environmental

Protection Agency emerged by the mid-1970s as a rapidly growing (and localizing) federal

force40 While rapid expansion wrought a period of readjustment the EPA also succeeded in

improving its relationships with state officials41 The election of President Jimmy Carter in 1976

33 Ibid34 Ibid35 Ibid36 Mintz 2337 Ibid38 Ibid 2239 Ibid 22-2340 Ibid 2441 Ibid 25

also brought respected environmentalists to the agencyrsquos helm By the end of the 1970s EPA

enforcement improved in efficiency through a drift toward civil litigation42 (consequently

extending environmental concerns into the Department of Justice)43 These advancements in

organization and efficiency clearly indicate that the institution in the words of EPA Region V

enforcement manager David Kee was ldquodefinitelyhellipmaturingrdquo44

From these facts history asserts that the actions and evolution of the Environmental

Protection Agency marked a ldquomaturationrdquo of ecological defense The transfer of enforcement

from local agencies to a national organization coupled with new andor improved legislative

foundations justifying intervention and organizing its activities produced an upright firm and

logical process to environmental regulation This new system wrought undeniable progress for

those looking to curtail the contamination of ecosystems In short 1970s environmentalism

discovered not just how to work within a system but to significantly change the priorities

process and externalities of that systemmdash1960s thoughts matured into successful 1970s actions

However it is important to understand that not everyone supported new environmental

legislation nor subscribed to an alleged ldquosense of impending crisisrdquo regarding the natural world

Many critics came not from the realm of big business but from the realm of academia John

Maddox British science writer and editor of Nature magazine argued in 1972 that ldquothe

doomsday cause would be more telling if it were more securely grounded in facts better

informed by a sense of history and an awareness of economics and less cataclysmic in temperrdquo45

Others denied long-term predictions of catastrophe more emphatically forcing environmentalists

to refine and re-examine their arguments and evidence Out of this scrutiny emerged the second

42 Ibid 2843 Ibid 3044 Ibid 2445 John Maddox The Doomsday Syndrome (New York McGraw Hill 1972) 4

crucial breakthrough in the history of environmentalismmdash its realization of the ldquobig picturerdquo of

ecological crises in the face of dissent This philosophical struggle sought to answer critics by

attempting to quantify the presence scale and future of world wide ecological degradation

While its tangible degrees of success and legacy would prove elusive for many years to come

these lines of defense conceived in the 1970s ultimately laid the foundation for the most

enduring rigorous and scientifically justified environmental arguments of the past four decades

If Rachel Carson defined best-selling environmentalist literature of the 1960s then

scientists Donella Meadows Dennis Meadows and Joslashrgen Randers dominated all environmental

writings of the 1970s and provided one of the decadersquos most important scientific insights

Following commission from the Club of Rome (an organization of economic scientific and

political leaders) and the Volkswagen Foundation these researchers co-authored a landmark

book seeking to answer questions regarding global economic sustainability This collaborative

effort entitled The Limits to Growth was published in 1972 and became an instant international

sensation standard university text46 and the best-selling environmental book in world history47

Prior to 1972 philosophical speculation into the negative consequences of exponential growth in

a finite world can be traced as far back as 1798 (when scholar Thomas Robert Malthus warned

that unrestrained population growth would ultimately produce poverty) The crucial distinction

of The Limits to Growth stemmed from its efforts to quantify the ldquopossible futuresrdquo produced by

externalities48 Constructing a ldquoWorld3rdquo computer model to process data investigated by the

Systems Dynamics Group within the Sloan School of Management at MIT49 the team was tasked

46 Donella Meadows Jorgen Randers and Dennis Meadows Limits to Growth The 30-Year Update (White River Junction VT Chelsea Green Publishing Company 2004) x47 Andrea Wild ldquoExamining the Limits to Growthrdquo Csiroau 11112008 (updated 892013) accessed 42114 httpwwwcsiroauPortalsMultimediaCSIROpodGrowth-Limitsaspx48 Meadows xvii49 Meadows ix

with estimating the 21st Century societyrsquos relation with the environment These models

developed from the notion that exponential economic growth rendered ldquostatic indexrdquo

measurements of known resource reserves obsolete (since current yearly usage increasing

constantly cannot be divided by total estimated reserves to predict future availability)

Composing the formula y = ln((rXs)+1)r (or ldquorsquoyears leftrsquo equals ln times (lsquocontinuous

compounding growth ratersquo multiplied by lsquostatic reserversquo plus 1) divided by lsquoreserve quantityrsquordquo)

the researchers argued that the true rate of an individual resourcersquos use could be quantified50

Extending crucial resource depletions to the totality of the world economy forecasted twelve

possible scenarios each unambiguously forcing an end to civilizationrsquos physical growth in the

World3 model at some point in the 21st century51 Meadows et al summarized their findings

robustly

ldquoCan this physical growth realistically continue forever Our answer is no Growth in

population and capital increases the ecological footprint of humanity the burden

humanity places on the world ecosystem unless there is a successful effort to avoid such

an increasehellipOnce the footprint has grown beyond the sustainable levelhellipit must

eventually come downmdasheither through a managed processhellipor through the work of

naturehellipThere is no question about whether growth in the ecological footprint will stop

the only questions are when and by what meansrdquo52

While skeptics such as economist Robert M Solow initially lambasted its models as ldquobad

science and therefore bad publicityrdquo53 the bookrsquos main ideas have withstood forty years of peer

50 Meadows 6051 Meadows xi52 Meadows 4853 Robert M Solow Is the End of the World at Hand Challenge (05775132) 16 no 1 (1973) 39 httpwwwjstororgdiscover10230740719094uid=3739864ampuid=2129ampuid=2ampuid=70ampuid=4ampuid=3739256ampsid=21104124785403

review and mark a clear breakthrough in environmentalist rhetoric and argumentation Crucial to

The Limits to Growthrsquos legacy rests its modern conceptualization of ldquosustainabilityrdquo the first

recorded instance54 of a term which has gone to spark ldquorevolutionaryrdquo paradigm shifts55 in the

aims of modern economic development The book has been cited as an influence by former Vice

President and environmental advocate Al Gore56 and has promoted the publication of books such

as Steven Stollrsquos The Great Delusion Richard Heinbergrsquos The End of Growth and Ross

Jacksonrsquos Occupy World Street Furthermore the scientific and academic community has

generally supported the bookrsquos predictions and methodology over the course of the past forty

years A 2008 paper entitled ldquoA Comparison of lsquoThe Limits to Growthrsquo with Thirty Years of

Realityrdquo from the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization

concluded ldquothat 30 years of historical data compares favorably with key features of the business-

as usual scenariohellipwhich results in collapse of the system midway through the 21st Centuryrdquo57 A

2009 American Scientist article also affirmed these sentiments58 Additionally the impact of the

book on future environmental publications is beyond dispute Since 1972 two updated editions

of The Limits to Growth have received release each contributing new data favoring the original

hypotheses of Donella Meadows Dennis Meadows and Joslashrgen Randers The Limits to Growth

in short marked a crucial instance in the grand scheme of environmentalismmdashthe beginnings of

a movementrsquos tangible scientifically justifiable contention that endless economic expansion is

54 Donovan Finn ldquoOur Uncertain Future Can Good Planning Create Sustainable Communitiesrdquo PhD dissertation University of Illinois Ann Arbor ProquestUMI 2009 (Publication No AAT 3362782)55 Andres R Edwards The Sustainability Revolution Portrait of a Paradigm Shift (Canada New Society Publishers 2007) 6-756 EJ Dionne Greening of Democrats An 80s Mix of Idealism And Shrewd Politics New York Times updated 614 1989 accessed 4314 httpwwwnytimescom19890614uswashington-talk-greening-democrats-80-s-mix-idealism-shrewd-politicshtml57 Graham Turner ldquoA Comparison of the Limits To Growth with Thirty Years of Realityrdquo CSIRO June 2008 ISSN 1834-5638 httpwwwfraworgukfileslimitscsiro_2008pdf58 Charles A S Hall and John W Day Jr ldquoRevisiting the Limits to Growth After Peak Oilrdquo American Scientist 97 (2009) 230 -238 httpwwwesfeduefbhall2009-05Hall0327pdf

ldquounsustainablerdquo in a world of finite resources However this was not the only breakthrough

attributable to a 1970s hypothesis

While 1960s environmentalism grasped a basic understanding of lifersquos dependence on

balances in nature two 1970s theorists refined lifersquos influence on natural cycles into ldquoone of the

most provocative ideas to have been put forward in the second half of the twentieth centuryrdquo59

This ldquoideardquo put forward by James E Lovelock and Lynn Margulis in 1974 stemmed from

observations that chemical constituents in Earthrsquos oceans soil and atmosphere differed by

factors of millions from those predicted by physical chemistry60 What became known as the

ldquoGaia Hypothesisrdquo postulated ldquoa new view of the atmosphere one in which it is seen as a

component part of the biosphere rather than as a mere environment for liferdquo61 In other words

life cycles were postulated to control global chemical (and hence ldquoenvironmentalrdquo) cycles The

implication that humanity constituted one component of global homeostasis and that the

chemical emissions produced by life could alter a delicate equilibrium neatly packaged the

writings of Carson and others as a formal scientific hypothesis

The late 1970s also marked the beginning of scientific consensus around yet another

ldquoworldwiderdquo ecological issue In a mainstream affirmation of a hypothesis relating to global

environmental degradation academic researchers began to unite behind the idea that human

activities could alter weather patterns worldwide ldquoClimate changerdquo a term used interchangeably

with ldquoglobal warmingrdquo in the context of current affairs refers to ldquosubstantial change in Earthrsquos

climate that lasts for an extended period of time [and] causes an increase in the average

59 Ross Jackson Occupy World Street (White River Junction VT Chelsea Green Publishing 2012) 16660 Peter Russell The Global Brain The Awakening Earth in a New Century (United States of America Floris Books 2007) 3661 James E Lovelock and Lynn Margulis ldquoAtmospheric Homeostasis by and for the Biosphere the Gaia Hypothesisrdquo Tellus Series A Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography vol 26 issue 1-2 (Manuscript received May 8 revised version August 20 1973) DOI 103402tellusav26i1-29731

temperature of the lower atmosphererdquo62 The first historical glimpses of the anthropogenic (or

ldquohuman-causedrdquo) climate change debate have been linked to the work of Joseph Fourier who

first established that the temperature of the Earth is regulated at levels greater than those seen in

a perfect vacuum by the atmospheric gases63 ldquoNatural philosopherrdquo John Tyndall discovered the

strong radiation blocking effect of carbon dioxide in 186464 and Swedish scientist Svante

Arrhenius calculated that a 50 increase in carbon dioxide would raise global temperatures by 5

or 6 degrees Celsius shortly after65 Follow up studies in the 1920s under seemingly controlled

conditions cast doubts on the notion that excess carbon dioxide would significantly alter the

Earthrsquos temperature66 though additional tests in the 1950s challenged this skepticism Critics

repeatedly emphasized that weather patterns could not be forecasted through isolated data sets

and that overall climate alterations were virtually impossible to detect due to a multitude of

uncontrollable variables By the 1960s a handful of scientists decided to pursue new computer

modeling techniques to isolate warming trends The year 1960 also saw to analysis of the

atmospheric content of the planet Venus which would be blamed for the planetrsquos hellish surface

temperatures through the ldquogreenhouse effectrdquo theory of Carl Sagan67

The 1970s marked the beginnings of a permanent reversal of criticism On November 14

1971 the Mariner 9 space probe collected infrared interferometer spectrometer readings of Marsrsquo

atmospheric temperature during a planet-enveloping dust storm68 Its findings indicated ldquodust in

62 YeSeul Kim et al ldquoDefinition Climate Changerdquo Massachusetts Institute of Technology updated 2006 accessed 32614 httpwebmitedu12000wwwm2010finalwebsitebackgroundglobalwarmingdefinitionhtml63 Spencer R Weart The Discovery of Global Warming (Harvard University Press Cambridge Massachusetts 2003) 2-364 Ibid 3-465 Ibid 566 Ibid 767 Sagan interview by Ron Doel Aug 27 1991 AIP tape 4 side 1 in Weart 8768 National Aeronautics and Space Administration The New Mars The Discoveries of Mariner 9 (Washington DC US Government Printing Office 1974) 36

the atmosphere was warmer than usualhellipbecause the airborne dust absorbed much of the

available sunlightrdquo69 Most importantly several localized storm systems were perpetuated by

convective air motion triggered by global atmospheric heat retention70 This fact provided an

empirical demonstration of the notion of climate ldquofeedbacksrdquo later described in a 1975 Norwich

symposium on climate fluctuations as ldquothe only global climate change whose cause is known that

man has ever scientifically observedrdquo71 These findings helped revive the scientific study of

climate change on Earth72 In 1977 the National Academy of Sciencesrsquo newly formed committee

on climate change warned of ldquocatastrophicrdquo temperature increases over the course of the next

two-hundred years and affirmed the accuracy of computer-based general circulation models73

Two years later a Geneva ldquoWorld Climate Conferencerdquo pitted skeptics and supporters and

marked a breakthrough moment in consensus At the convention 300 experts from over 50

sovereign nations concluded that increases in carbon dioxide ldquomay result in significant and

possibly major long-term changes of the global-scale climaterdquo74 These conclusions have only

intensified over the course of the last forty years

Since the 1970s the legacy and durability of both realizations have been affirmed

repeatedly Initial criticism of Lovelock and Margulisrsquo work stemmed from reductionist

evolutionary biologists who argued that its core tenants and alleged teleology were untestable75

However these criticisms have been retracted and Gaia Hypothesis has since attained

mainstream acceptance in universities and scientific circles76 Richard Dawkins arguably the

69 Ibid70 Ibid 4271 Weart 16672 Weart 8873 National Academy of Sciences Climate Research Board Carbon Dioxide and Climate A Scientific Assessment (Washington DC National Academy of Sciences 1979) 2-374 John W Zillman ldquoA History of Climate Activitiesrdquo WMO Bulletin 58 (3) ndash July 2009 in Weart 11675 Jackson 16676 Jackson 167

worldrsquos most famous living reductionist and early arch-skeptic of the theory later praised

Lovelock and Margulis for ldquocarrying it through from being an unorthodoxy to an orthodoxyone

of the great achievements of twentieth century biologyrdquo77 Additionally consensus around

anthropogenic warming theories has dramatically expanded since the conclusion of the 1970s

971 of peer reviewed academic theses taking a position on warming from 1991 to 2011

endorse an anthropogenic cause of the phenomenon78 As of September 25 2013 the United

Nations climate panel (or IPCC) declared 95 certainty among scientists that humans are the

ldquodominant causerdquo of climate change79

Amassing these discoveries and their legacies a second major conclusion can be drawn

to assess the significance of 1970s environmental history In short the affirmation and influence

of each hypothesis over the course of forty years marks the decade as a moment of profound

intellectual insight for the environmental movement For the first time in history ideas only

hinted at in previous decades received refinement consolidation andor revelation in testable

scientific theories However not all theories are worthy of ldquolasting historical significancerdquo Ex-

Gaia skeptic and ex-Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at

Oxford University Richard Dawkins has argued that the significance of ldquotheoriesrdquo falls into two

camps those ldquotheoriesrdquo which form (in the words of the Oxford English Dictionary) ldquoa mere

hypothesis speculation [or] conjecturerdquo which is later disproven or produces no testable

predictions and those that ldquohave been confirmed or established by observation or experimentrdquo80

The implication of this dichotomy asserts that not all ideas are equally groundbreaking and that

77 John Brockman The Third Culture Beyond the Scientific Revolution (New York Simon and Schuster 1996) 14478 John Cook et al ldquoQuantifying the Consensus on Anthropogenic Global Warming in the Scientific Literaturerdquo Environ Res Lett 8 024024 (2013) doi1010881748-93268202402479 Matt McGrath ldquoIPCC Climate Report Humans lsquoDominant Causersquo of Warmingrdquo BBC updated 92713 accessed 42614 httpwwwbbccomnewsscience-environment-2429261580 Richard Dawkins The Greatest Show on Earth The Evidence for Evolution (New York Free Press 2009) 9-13

theories in ldquosense twordquo are superior to theories in ldquosense onerdquo for their development of falsifiable

paradigms for explaining reality For environmental history the 1970s saw to the advancement

of theories pertaining to the worldwide ecological impact of human activity from ldquosense onerdquo to

ldquosense twordquo Previously scattered andor untestable warnings of humanityrsquos capacity to influence

the global environment emerged from the 70s as organized and falsifiable hypotheses Yet these

ideas did not go the way of phlogiston theory miasma disease theory and other debunked

footnotes in the history of science The survival of each hypothesis after four decades of review

and reassessment legitimizes their status as ldquoenduring scientific justificationsrdquo

While this understanding does not fix the course of history as ldquoteleologicalrdquo the truths of

science are indeed ldquofixedrdquo into the workings of the natural world The process of extracting these

truths varies with the flow of history but once conceived tested and reviewed in the absence of

persecution (ie the Inquisition to Galileo) their influence on future thought is unstoppable To

paraphrase neuroscientist and philosopher of science Sam Harris81 with all things being equal a

bulletproof hypothesis leads to ldquohelpless agreementrdquo among spectators The Limits to Growth

the Gaia Hypothesis and climate change consensus forged in a society protected by the First

Amendment to the Constitution of the United States represent ideal case studies in the workings

of this principlemdasha non-random understanding of random information leading to further non-

random refinement Each also supports the notion that the understanding of a decadersquos historical

significance involves input from other timeframes Just as the political success of 1970s

environmentalism may only be understood through the events of the 1960s so the philosophical

breakthroughs of 1970s environmentalism may only be appreciated through a look at the last

four decades

81 Sam Harris ldquorsquoThe End of Faithrsquo Judaism and its 2 Derivatives Christianity and Islamrdquo Venusprojectorg Updated 2005 accessed 4714 httpwwwvenusprojectorgreasonend-of-faithhtml

In conclusion the environmental movement of the 1970s represents a pivotal juncture in

scientific understanding and highly successful political force Through an academically respected

model of investigation and debate scientists across America began exploring possibilities

suggested by environmental paradigm shifts of the 1960s While heatedly disputed from

inception to experimentation the hypotheses of 1970s environmentalists ultimately succeeded in

conceiving the long-term consequences of an unsustainable global status quo Yet these

revelations would be nothing but white noise if American civics ignored them and the

observations that influenced them The organization and actions of the Environmental Protection

Agency effectively systematized by the close of the 1970s established effective means of

controlling ecological externalities Despite the best efforts of reactionaries to reverse these gains

in subsequent decades these processes continue to mediate environmentalist success to the

present day Hence history must remember the 1970s as a uniquely pivotal moment for

environmentalismmdashthe decade that inaugurated lasting academic refinement and meaningful

political action This was the moment where action superseded speculation and subsequently

this was the moment of environmentalismrsquos ldquopractical maturityrdquo This was the moment of

intellectual clarity affirmed through academic regulation and an influential legacy An

understanding of the past or theory of the future cannot advance without this understanding nor

will any meaningful change alter the environmental issues of present by forgetting the lessons of

the 1970s

Bibliography

Brockman John The Third Culture Beyond the Scientific Revolution New York Simon and Schuster 1996

Browner Carol M ldquoStatement on EPArsquos 25th Anniversaryrdquo Environmental Protection Agency Updated December 1 1995 accessed 4214 httpwww2epagovaboutepastatement-epas-25th-anniversary

Carson Rachel Silent Spring New York Houghton Mifflin Company 1962

Cessna Abby ldquoAlbert Einstein Quotesrdquo Universetodaycom Updated 21110 accessed 42014 httpwwwuniversetodaycom55516albert-einstein-quotes

Cook John Dana Nuccitelli Sarah A Green Mark Richardson Baumlrbel Winkler Rob Painting Robert Way Peter Jacobs and Andrew Skuce ldquoQuantifying the Consensus on Anthropogenic Global Warming in the Scientific Literaturerdquo Environ Res Lett 8 024024 (2013) doi1010881748-932682024024

Dawkins Richard The Greatest Show on Earth The Evidence for Evolution New York Free Press 2009

Edwards Andres R The Sustainability Revolution Portrait of a Paradigm Shift Canada New Society Publishers 2007

Ehrlich Paul The Population Bomb New York Ballantine Books 1968

Eskenazi Brenda Jonathan Chevrier Lisa Goldman Rosas Henry A Anderson Maria S Bornman Henk Bouwman Aimin Chen Barbara A Cohn Christiaan de Jager Diane S Henshel Felicia Leipzig John S Leipzig Edward C Lorenz Suzanne M Snedeker and Darwin Stapleton ldquoThe Pine River Statement Human Health Consequences of DDT Userdquo Environ Health Perspect Sep 2009 117(9) 1359ndash1367 Published online May 4 2009

Finn Donovan ldquoOur Uncertain Future Can Good Planning Create Sustainable Communitiesrdquo PhD dissertation University of Illinois Ann Arbor ProquestUMI 2009 (Publication No AAT 3362782)

Graham Mary The Morning After Earth Day Washington DC The Brookings Institution 1999

Griswold Eliza ldquoHow lsquoSilent Springrsquo Ignited the Environmental Movmentrdquo New York Times Published 92112 accessed 33014 httpwwwnytimescom20120923magazinehow-silent-spring-ignited -the-environmental-movementhtmlpagewanted=allamp_r=0

Hall Charles A S and John W Day Jr ldquoRevisiting the Limits to Growth After Peak Oilrdquo American Scientist 97 (2009) 230 -238 httpwwwesfeduefbhall2009-05Hall0327pdf

Hardin Garrett ldquoThe Tragedy of the Commonsrdquo Science vol 162 no 3859 (December 13 1968) 1243-1248 DOI 101126science16238591243

Harris Sam ldquorsquoThe End of Faithrsquo Judaism and its 2 Derivatives Christianity and Islamrdquo Venusprojectorg Updated 2005 accessed 4714 httpwwwvenusprojectorgreasonend-of-faithhtml

Hevesi Dennis ldquoDr Louise Reiss 90 Who Helped Ban Atomic Testing Dies at 90rdquo New York Times Published 1102011 accessed 41914 httpwwwnytimescom20110110science10reisshtml_r=0

James A Hijiya ldquoThe Gita of Robert Oppenheimerrdquo Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society vol 144 no 2 (June 2000) 123 httpwwwamphilsocorgsitesdefaultfilesproceedingsHijiyapdf

Hoffman Andrew J ldquoClimate Science as Culture Warrdquo Stanford Social Innovation Review Updated fall 2012 accessed 4514 httpwwwssirevieworgarticlesentryclimate_science_as_culture_war

Jackson Ross Occupy World Street White River Junction VT Chelsea Green Publishing 2012

Kim YeSeul Erika Granger Katie Puckett Cankutan Hasar and Leif Francel ldquoDefinition Climate Changerdquo Massachussets Institute of Technology Updated 2006 accessed 32614 Achttpwebmitedu12000wwwm2010finalwebsitebackgroundglobalwarmingdefinitionhtml

Lindstrom Matthew J and Zachary A Smith The National Environmental Policy Act College Station Texas AampM University Press 2001 50

Lovelock JamesE and Lynn Margulis ldquoAtmospheric Homeostasis by and for the Biosphere the Gaia Hypothesisrdquo Tellus Series A Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography vol 26 issue 1-2 (Manuscript received May 8 revised version August 20 1973) DOI 103402tellusav26i1-29731

Maddox John The Doomsday Syndrome New York McGraw Hill 1972

McGrath Matt ldquoIPCC Climate Report Humans lsquoDominant Causersquo of Warmingrdquo Bbccom Published 92713 accessed 42614 httpwwwbbccomnewsscience-environment-24292615

Meadows Donella Jorgen Randers and Dennis Meadows Limits to Growth The 30-Year Update White River Junction VT Chelsea Green Publishing Company 2004

Mintz Joel A Enforcement At The EPA High Stakes and Hard Choices Austin TX University of Texas Press 1995

National Academy of Sciences Climate Research Board Carbon Dioxide and Climate A Scientific Assessment Washington DC National Academy of Sciences 1979

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The New Mars The Discoveries of Mariner 9 Washington DC US Government Printing Office 1974

Nixon Richard ldquoMessage of the Presidentrdquo Speech Washington DC July 9 1970 United States Government Printing Office httpwwwgpogovfdsyspkgUSCODE-2011-title5pdfUSCODE-2011-title5-app-reorganiz-other-dup92pdf

Nixon Richard ldquoReorganization Plan No 3 of 1970rdquo FR 15623 84 Stra 2086 effective December 2 1970 202-203 httpwwwgpogovfdsyspkgUSCODE-2011-title5pdfUSCODE-2011-title5-app-reorganiz-other-dup92pdf

Rooney Anne Einstein In His Own Words New York Gramercy Books 2006

Rotman Michael ldquoCuyahoga River Firerdquo Cleveland Historical accessed April 19 2014 http clevelandhistorical org items show 63

Russel Peter The Global Brain The Awakening Earth in a New Century United States of America Floris Books 2007

Sagan Carl interview by Ron Doel Aug 27 1991 AIP tape 4 side 1 in Weart Spencer R The Discovery of Global Warming (Harvard University Press Cambridge Massachusetts 2003)

Sanders NK ldquoThe Santa Barbara Oil Spill Impact of the Environment (1969)rdquo in The Environmental Moment 1968-1972 David Stradling ed Seattle University of Washington Press 2012

Solow Robert M Is the End of the World at Hand Challenge (05775132) 16 no 1 (1973) 39

Stokes Louis ldquoAddress in Congress Supporting Rivers and Harbors and Flood Control Act of 1970rdquo Delivered 1271970 Congressional Record v 115 part 14 (91st Congress 1st Session) page 40150

Train Russell E ldquoPrescription for the Planetrdquo New York American Public Health Association 1970

Turner Graham ldquoA Comparison of the Limits To Growth with Thirty Years of Realityrdquo CSIRO June 2008 ISSN 1834-5638 httpwwwfraworgukfileslimitscsiro_2008pdf

Weart Spencer R The Discovery of Global Warming Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press 2003

Wild Andrea ldquoExamining the Limits to Growthrdquo Csiroau Published 11112008 updated 892013 accessed 42114 httpwwwcsiroauPortalsMultimediaCSIROpodGrowth-Limitsaspx

Zillman John W ldquoA History of Climate Activitiesrdquo WMO Bulletin 58 (3) ndash July 2009 in Weart Spencer R The Discovery of Global Warming Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press 2003

to qualify warnings of ecological catastrophe and quantify the extent of damages followed by an

assessment of its success through future peer review and influence In conclusion political and

philosophical breakthroughs are brought together to paint an effective and complex

environmental movementmdashone brought to adolescence through the youth of the Cold War but

physically mature and learning ldquothe way of the worldrdquo by the end of the 1970s

With this being said no understanding of lsquo70s environmental history is complete without

some knowledge of the movementrsquos foundations Essentially the story of ldquoenvironmentalismrdquo

details the story of an unprecedented amendment to centuries-old intuitionmdasha reversal of the

belief that human activity could never upset the ldquoGod-givenrdquo ldquostate of naturerdquo in its pursuit of

material ldquoprogressrdquo The rise of the Industrial Revolution from the mid-18th century to the first

decades of the 1800s wrought groundbreaking prosperity upon the United Kingdom and the

United States and spurred a popular consensus that all technological advancements equated to

change for the good of mankind2 The first serious blow to this paradigm occurred approximately

two decades before the dawn of the 1970s as total war radically altered notions of the

destructive capabilities of human technology The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

on August 6-9 1945 epitomized the worst of these fears and concerns about the devastating

power of nuclear weapons extended beyond the popular and occasionally laughable theories of

ldquocold war culturerdquo For the first time scientists began to publically support the notion that human

invention had reached a capacity to alter the state of the Earth Upon or around his witnessing the

detonation of the first atomic bomb in Trinity New Mexico on July 16 1945 Manhattan Project

director Robert Oppenheimer (mis)quoted the Bhagavad Gita by stating ldquoI am become death the

2 Spencer R Weart The Discovery of Global Warming (Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press 2003) 7









































































































































































robustly




































































































































four decades




















the 1970s

Bibliography



















































































































































































































robustly




































































































































four decades




















the 1970s

Bibliography




































































































































































four decades




















the 1970s

Bibliography





























































the 1970s

Bibliography











































Bibliography











































FINAL PAPER (Writing Seminar)

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Transcript of FINAL PAPER (Writing Seminar)