Summary
Highlights
The Environmental Protection Movement arose from the desire for a national energy policy, as the U.S. grew deeply dependent on oil, largely due to the automobile. By the 1970s, OPEC controlled much of the world's oil supply. In 1973, OPEC imposed an oil embargo on the U.S. for supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur War. This led to skyrocketing oil and gas prices, crippling industries, and causing 'stagflation'—a combination of stagnant employment and rising inflation that baffled economists.
The oil crisis highlighted the need for energy independence. In response, President Jimmy Carter created the Department of Energy in 1977. Its mission was to research and develop energy conservation strategies and alternative energy sources to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil.
The oil crisis reinforced the belief that Earth's resources are limited, sparking a significant movement to protect ecosystems. Unlike older conservation efforts focused on physical spaces, the 1970s environmentalism emphasized preserving the wider interdependent ecosystem. Rachel Carson's 1962 book, 'Silent Spring,' was influential, exposing the catastrophic environmental effects of synthetic pesticides like DDT, which caused irreparable harm to species and led to its ban in 1972.
Public support for environmental protection intensified in the 1970s due to highly visible environmental disasters. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio, notorious for catching fire multiple times, gained national attention in 1969 after a Time magazine story. This growing public concern led President Nixon to establish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1971 to regulate activities causing pollution.
Another disaster was the Love Canal contamination in Niagara Falls, New York, where toxic industrial waste buried underground leaked into a residential area, causing high rates of cancer, miscarriages, and birth defects. This prompted President Carter to create the EPA Superfund, allocating money to clean up such chemically contaminated sites.
The environmental movement gained further momentum with the Three Mile Island incident in 1979. A partial meltdown at a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania released radioactive chemicals into the environment near a populated town. Although officials prevented a larger catastrophe, this event significantly slowed the adoption of nuclear power as a clean energy alternative, despite its potential for energy independence.