The crew of Apollo 8 takes the first photograph of the Earth from space.
The photograph, named “Earthrise,” will become the iconic image of the
environmental movement.In recognition of the growing media attention given to the approaching Earth Day, President Richard Nixon stresses the importance of environmental issues in his State of the Union Address
The first national Earth Day. Co-chaired by Congressman Pete McCloskey and coordinated by Denis Hayes, the first Earth Day takes the form of a nationwide protest against environmental ignorance. An estimated 20 million people participate across the country, in what will ultimately be the largest demonstration ever in American history.
Dennis Meadows co-authors The Limits to Growth, a study of the interaction between population, industrial growth, food production and ecosystem limits. In the book, Meadows demonstrates with clear diagrams and linear models that Earth’s resources are being steadily used up, and as these resources drop, human population is expanding exponentially. The Limits to Growth predicts that by the middle of the 21st century, Earth’s population will no longer be sustainable and the ecosystem will completely collapse
During the Arab Oil Embargo, energy demands exceed supplies in the United States for first time. The fuel shortage results from the suspension of oil shipments to the U.S., with gas prices skyrocketing and the price of a barrel increasing 400% from $3 to $12 a barrel. The energy crisis fuels immediate research into alternative energy and creates a new dialogue about energy security for the United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_movement
Reporter Michael H. Brown raises
questions that lead to the discovery of long-term dioxin contamination
at Love Canal, a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, NY. Up to 21,000 tons of
toxic waste had been dumped in the canal by the Hooker Chemical Company
from 1942-1952 and caused significant numbers of birth defects,
abnormalities in children, and miscarriages.
The national media fallout from the Love Canal disaster leads to the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act, more commonly known as the “Superfund” legislation, which mandates clean up of abandoned hazardous waste sites by the parties responsible. Superfund will be signed into law on December 11, 1980.
The national media fallout from the Love Canal disaster leads to the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act, more commonly known as the “Superfund” legislation, which mandates clean up of abandoned hazardous waste sites by the parties responsible. Superfund will be signed into law on December 11, 1980.
