1. Earth Day- The
Beginning
The environment became a political
cause in the United States and at Wesleyan in early 1970, but the forces which
brought it about had their roots in the post-war order. The oldest groups dealing with environmental
issues, and to a smaller degree politics, are the Conservation groups. While representing an important stream in
modern environmental thought, the environmental movement is more than an
outgrowth or extension of the conservation movement. As described by Samuel Hays, one of the creators of the subfield
of environmental history, the conservation movement, from the beginning of the
20th century to the 1960's, was dominated by an interest in
materially improving human life by scientifically managing natural resources.[1] Through planning, natural resources could be
used for "multiple uses," meaning that a river could be fished,
dammed for power, and also used for irrigation. For these reasons, "unharnessed rivers flowing to the ocean
without being used by man were deplored as wasteful[.]" and uncut forests
were of no value to man.[2] These values never caught the intlues never caught the interest of
the public, leaving the conservation movement to the domain of scientists,
government officials, and others involved in resource extraction.[3]
The modern environmental movement
was made possible by the consumerism which resulted from the prosperity of the
post World War II years. This
consumer-oriented movement is more akin to preservationism, rather than
conservationism, as the former had an interest in protecting the natural beauty
of land so that it could be enjoyed by humans.[4] The 1950's and 60's saw a rise in outdoor
recreation, as many people had both the desire and the means to escape the
congestion and pollution of the cities.
The same period witnessed a population growth and expansion of suburban
areas, and even the population of more rural lands.[5] These people valued the quality of their communities,
wetlands, beaches, rivers, parks, deserts and forests, as they wanted the land
for habitation and recreation, and as a contrast to the polluted modern world.[6] This localism led to clashes with outside
industry and government agencies who wanted to build dams (e.g. on the Columbia
River), build MX missile silos, drill for oil, mine for uranium, develop
wetland areas, and otherwise alter or degrade the land.[7] By the 1960's, works like Rachel Carson's Silent
Spring undermined the credibility of the scientists and technocrats who
promised growth and prosperity while downplaying its costs. With infectious diseases on the decline
following the advent of antibiotics and widespread immunization, people became
interested in environmental threats to their health.[8] Finally, the massive grassroots protests of
the 1960's increased the atmosphere of distrust of the status quo of government
and industry, and also gave large numbers of people experience in organizing
political movements. They also learned
how to become experts on issues, and how to force the government to pay
attention to their issues.[9] One of these young organizers was 25 year
old Denis Hayes, who would become the National Coordinator of Environmental
Action.
In July of 1969, Senator Gaylord
Nelson came up with this latest idea for making the environment a mainstream
political issue. He decided to hold a
national teach-in on the environment, in the style of the anti-war teach-ins. Nelson contacted all 50 state governors and
the mayors of major cities, informing them of the teach-in, and inviting them
to publicly support it. The news media
picked up the story in September, and as Nelson explained it, "It took off
like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters
and telephone inquiries poured in from all over the nation." In December, Nelson opened a separate office
to coordinate what would become Earth Day, and put Denis Hayes in charge of
it. Hayes, Nelson, and their new
coordinating group, Environmental Action, did an excellent job at promoting the
event, making it well known to colleges, towns, and public schools all over the
nation, and providing the catalyst for the creation of the first political (as
opposed to service-oriented or recreational) environmental organizations.[10]
The national political
movements against the war in Vietnam and for civil rights were peaking in late
1969 and early 1970, and the nature of the first environmental groups reflect
this situation.[11] While popular interest in Earth Day and
books like Paul Ehrlich's The Population Bomb (1968) indicated a
national interest in the environment as a potentially broad-based, non-divisive
issue, the early environmentalists were already defending this interests
against charges that it was a feel-good reformist escape from the true problems
of the time.
In 1970, Environmental Action (with the
help of the New York Times) published a collection of speeches given on Earth
Day around the country. Given the
focuses of most of the resulting environmental groups, the strong component of
what is now known as "environmental justice" in these speeches seems
surprising, especially given that many of these sentiments came from people in
the political establishment.[12] Walter Mondale, a Senator from Minnesota,
said, "The crisis of environmental decay is clearly bound to the crisis of
poverty, blight, racism, war, and economic injustice."[13] The Reverend Channing Phillips called for
unity in fighting these ills, claiming that "racial injustice, war, urban
blight, and environmental rape have a common denominator in our exploitative
economic system."[14] George Wiley, an organizer of poor blacks,
firmly stated, "My first question… is whether this is a serious movement,
or whether it is a passing fad that is simply a way for some people to cop out
from some of the fundamental and pressing social problems that beset a lot of
us in the society." Wiley also
astutely noticed that "So far, to be invited to participate in a program
on environment is the exception rather than the rule for poor people or black
community organizers.[15] The climate of the times made people very
sensitive to problems of poverty and racism in the United States, and the
national organizers in Environmental Action took great pains to demonstrate how
the environmental movement could complement other social movements. Still, the interests and backgrounds of the
people organizing the first Earth Day events on a local level, and the burden
of being the pioneers in a new field of activism, prevented the visions of the
national environmental advocates from materializing.
At Wesleyan, a College of
Social Studies (CSS) major, David Boeri '71, went to work for the National Park
Service in the summer of 1968. There he
saw environmental films, and attributed his interest in environmental work to
his work and films, which made him more sensitive to environmental issues than
most of the urbanized students at Wesleyan.
As Wesleyan had cancelled their systems ecology program in favor of
micro and cellular biology, Boeri was forced to take courses in this field at
Connecticut College. There he began to
research the pollution of the Connecticut River, and decided to form an
organization dedicated to research, advocacy, and education at Wesleyan.[16] While most student at Wesleyan did not have
close contact with the outdoors or nature, Bob Yaro '71 pointed out that the
rapid development of farmland around Middletown was visible, and disturbing, to
some students at Wesleyan. It was
during this time that farmland and open space along Route 66 became strip malls,
and as Route 9 was constructed, a wake of new subdivisions lined its path.[17]
Having heard Denis Hayes' call
to action, Boeri, Yaro, and other students formed the first environmental group
at Wesleyan, tentatively called the April 22 Committee. The initial organizational meeting was
actually well attended, given the other major issues of the time. While the name "Earth Day" would
not be created and endlessly repeated for a few more weeks, the rationale for
this day had already been well defined.
An Argus opinion piece by visiting professor Charles Steinbacker warned
of the destruction of the environment.
The
Quality of Life has officially bit the dust.
Human dignity has fled the scene.
An epidemic of "progress" has struck the world. Our environment lies in critical condition;
its future in the hands of the "silent majority" or the youth….
Well, this is 1970. It is the end of a
despairing decade; the beginning of something else….
The rapid deterioration of the earth as a livable home represents a common
adversary for us all. And in that fact
rests the basic hope of all mankind; the chance to finally unite the planet's people in a common pursuit - a fight to save man
from himself.[18]
At the same time, the College of Social
Studies began a nine week symposium called "Environment 1970," in
order to "clarify the issues surrounding the recent nationwide concern
over ecological problems and examine specific solutions."[19] Topics of the series included land use,
urban sprawl, zoning, and other problems of development, as well as air
pollution, the connection between pollution and overpopulation, the potential
for universities to become leaders in solving environmental problems, and the
pollution of the Connecticut River.
These lectures were not particularly well attended, and even alumni who
were involved in environmental issues at this time barely recalled them.[20] Nevertheless, the Argus saw fit to cover
almost every single one of them, which did contribute to the general awareness
of the issues.
From the beginning, the
environmentalists wanted to be more than just a campus group, as they dealt
with issues affecting the greater community.
By February, the group had changed its name to Boeri's suggestion,
SURVIVAL Incorporated of Middletown, as it included students from Portland High
School, and wanted to include Middletown residents. The group divided into four committees, working on issues like
planning the teach-in and cleaning up the Connecticut River, and began to
advertise itself in the Middletown Press.[21] SURVIVAL also opened an office in
Middletown, at 117 College St, where Wesleyan students and students from
Portland High School contributed time.
SURVIVAL did not end their focus with the town, but joined forces with
Stephen Thompson of the Environmental Action Group at Yale to coordinate Earth
Day actions around the state, and held a meeting for twelve Connecticut
environmental groups in the CSS lounge.[22] And so SURVIVAL continued to build ties with
groups from around the state, and cities in Middletown, and even worked with
local churches to prepare for Earth Day.[23]
Planning for the first Earth
Day was truly an exercise in mass mobilization, though the objectives varied
widely. Hayes was correct in stating
that "Political and business leaders once hoped that they could turn the
environmental movement into a massive anti-litter campaign."[24] In Middlefield, a selectman declared April
13-25 Earth weeks at the Memorial Middle School, encouraging the children to do
yard work and street clean-ups.[25] Feel good pronouncements were not just
limited to local politicians and officials.
President Nixon was said to be quite happy with citizen interest in
Earth Day, though he did not appear to fully understand it. The White house described that he
"feels the activities show the concern of people of all walks of life over
the dangers to our government."[26]
Back at Wesleyan, SURVIVAL
celebrated Earth Day with a clean-up of the Connecticut River, speeches, and
music. Early in the day, Astronomy
Professor Roger Grossenbacker led a clean-up of the banks of the river. Bob Yaro was involved in the planing of this
event, and estimated that 50 or 60 people showed up. He credits the ads in the Middletown Press, and high foot traffic
past the SURVIVAL office for getting local residents interested. The volunteers filled up a dumpster with
junked car parts, shopping carts, and other debris that had been accumulating
for decades.[27] As Grossenbacker told the Middletown Press,
"The last group to attempt to clean up litter in this area was made a few
years ago by a distinguished group from Haddam jail."[28]
Earth Day was marked by feelings of
crisis. At noon, Professor John Maguire
of the Religion Department said in his invocation, "We are very close to
death. Machines swallow the products of
chemical factories, we human machines swallow aspirin, preservatives,
stimulants, relaxants, and breathe out chemical wastes into polluted air."[29] Then the Reverend Joseph Duffey, who was at
the time running (unsuccessfully) for a senate seat, spoke of the role of
legislation in solving environmental problems.
He called for sharp restraint on the amount of waste produced, and even
went so far as to propose the elimination of disposable containers.[30] Other legislative proposals he thought might
be needed included banning fossil-fuel burning cars from urban areas, creating
taxes on the disposal of some products, and supporting birth control measures. Echoing other politicians at the time who wanted
to attract liberal votes, he said that environmentalists "must not be
allowed to turn away from problems of poverty, racism, and war."[31] An outdoor concert which drew about 100
people, mainly Wesleyan students, followed the speeches.[32] This humble beginning foreshadowed the fact
that environmentalism at Wesleyan was about to be completely eclipsed by other
events.
The 1969-70 school year was filled
with political activity. In November
1969 students, offended by a remark Jonathan Berg made about a racial incident
on campus, firebombed his room. The New
York Times Magazine actually wrote a story based on this, called "The Two
Nations at Wesleyan University."[33] On February 21, black students took over
Fisk Hall demanding the observation of the anniversary of Malcolm X's
death. In addition to issues of race,
protests against the draft took a central role at Wesleyan, with articles and
letters on the subject appearing in almost every issue of the Argus. In April of 1970, no fewer than three
buildings on campus were firebombed, though some of the political motivations
behind them remained ambiguous. In May
of 1970 the United States began bombing Cambodia and the escalation of the war,
Wesleyan students voted to go on strike in protest, and on the sixth, faculty
voted to support the strike, ending the semester. One interesting aspect of the strike was that the organizers
expanded their grievances beyond Vietnam, calling for the release of Black
Panther leader Bobby Seale, who was on trial in New Haven at the time.[34] On a somewhat incongruous note, but also
memorable to students of the time, the mellow Grateful Dead held an outdoor
concert at Wesleyan on May 6, 1970.
At Wesleyan, unlike in other parts
of the nation, the Earth Day Teach-In did not result in mass mobilization
around the environment, as other issues were still at the forefront. When asked about the first Earth Day,
several alumni and professors at Wesleyan initially doubted that it event took
place in 1970. They thought that
environmentalism started later. In a
way, they were right. SURVIVAL died in
the summer of 1970, as Boeri and Yaro needed to devote their time to academics
for their senior years, and they did not have the support the needed from
Wesleyan or Middletown. Still, SURVIVAL
can be remembered as the first group to make the environment a political issue
on campus, and it tried to be a community organization, instead of staying
within the comfortable confines of Wesleyan.
SURVIVAL, like most school and community groups, did not adopt the focus
espoused by politicians and environmental leaders of connecting the environment
with issues of civil rights or social justice.
This stance was essentially a response to criticism of environmentalism
by other activists of the time, and not principles that the movement was ready
to adopt. These issues would not come
together for well over another decade.
On the national level, the political
results of Earth Day were more mixed than proponents usually admit. While the fact that an estimated (by the
organizers) 20 million people participated at the grassroots level led to some
quick legislative victories, some key provisions were lost. 1970 witnessed the creation of the federal
Environmental Protection Agency, the passage of a new, enforceable Clean Air
Act in 1970, and the Clean Water Act in 1972.[35] The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
contained a weaker procedural review of development projects for environmental
impact that was originally proposed, and had no provision for giving citizens
standing in environmental lawsuits.[36] At the same time, states began to create
Departments of Environmental Protection to help them comply with federal laws
and regulations, but these agencies, like Connecticut's DEP, were often
underfunded, and discouraged from taking punitive measures against businesses.[37] Still, after 1970, the environment was a
factor in policy-making at all levels of government.
Part 2: The
Rise of General Purpose Environmentalism
[1] Samuel P. Hays, "Three Decades of
Environmental Politics," in Explorations in Environmental History
(Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1998), 337.
Samuel Hays is a well known historian of urban and social history in America,
and his major works are Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency, and
the more recent Beauty, Health and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the
United States, 1955-1985 (1987).
Hayes's introduction to a collection of his essays, Explorations in
Environmental History is an excellent guide to environmental history, and
its goals of providing context to recent political environmental movements,
their opposition, and the policy makers caught in between. This is particularly important to those who
follow environmental issues but have become frustrated with the news media for
its shortsightedness, inability to explain why current events occur, and its
predicable but misleading or inaccurate framing of contentious issues.
[2] Hays, "The Limits-To-Growth
Issue," in Explorations in Environmental History, 5.
[3] "Three Decades of Environmental
Politics," 357.
[4] "The Limits-To-Growth Issue,"
6.
[5] Hays, "The Structure of
Environmental Politics," in Explorations in Environmental History,
316-18.
[6] Ibid., 318.
[7] Ibid., 319.
[8] Ibid., 319-22.
[9] Ibid., 323.
[10] Gaylord Nelson, "History of Earth
Day," in the Earth Day Network Project Library (October 9, 1990);
available from www.sdearthtimes.com/edn/earthday/history.html.
[11] Some may argue that these movements had
already peaked, noting that civil rights organizations had been crumbling for
years, and the New Left was fragmented and under attack by the new Nixon
administration. As mass movements
though, their influence on campuses like Wesleyan were quite strong throughout
the spring of 1970. The dramatic
decline in interest and membership would not take place for another year at
Wesleyan.
[12] Environmental Justice began in the
1980's as a reaction to mainstream environmentalism which concerned itself with
saving species and habitat, as opposed to empowering urban communities and
minorities to fight for a clean and safe environment. Traditional environmentalism was accused of classicism and
elitism for fighting to save their favorite recreational spots while ignoring
the concentration of environmental hazards in poor communities and communities
of color. The gap between these
movements remains a contentious issue today.
[13] Walter Mondale, "Commitment to
Survival" in Earth Day - The Beginning, ed. Environmental Action
(New York: Arno Press and the New York Times, 1970), 43.
[14] Channing Phillips, "Unity," in
Earth Day - The Beginning, ed. Environmental Action (New York: Arno
Press and the New York Times, 1970), 73.
[15] George Wiley, "Ecology and the
Poor," in Earth Day - The Beginning, ed. Environmental Action (New
York: Arno Press and the New York Times, 1970), 235
[16] David Boeri, telephone interview by
author, 16 November 1999.
[17] Bob Yaro, telephone interview by author,
November 1999.
[18] Charles Steinbacker, "Environmental
Teach-In," Wesleyan Argus, 30 Jan 1970, 8.
[19] David Gerard, "Water Pollution
Speech Begins Ecology Series," Wesleyan Argus, 30 Jan 1970, 1.
[20] Boeri Interview.
[21] David Gerard, "Committees Plan
Environmental Teach-In on Pollution in April," Wesleyan Argus, 6
Feb 197pan style='mso-special-character:footnote'>[22] SURVIVAL, "Environment Delegates
Plan Activities, Teach-In" Announcement, Wesleyan Argus, 27 Feb
1970.
[23] SURVIVAL, "Joseph Duffey Noon
Rally, Highlight 'Earth Day' Events" Announcement, Wesleyan Argus,
21 April, 1970, 1.
[24] Denis Hayes, "The Beginning,"
in Earth Day: the Beginning.
[25] "Earth Week Activities Begin,"
Middletown Press, 14 April 1970 evening edition, 11.
[26] UPI, "Land, Water, Air Cleanup
Needs Cited," Middletown Press, 22 April 1970, evening, 1.
[27] Yaro interview.
[28] John Bart, "Many Area Groups Try to
Dramatize the Day," Middletown Press, 22 April 1970, evening, 1.
[29] Ibid.
[30] SURVIVAL, "Joseph Duffey Noon
Rally, Highlight 'Earth Day' Events" Announcement, Wesleyan Argus,
21 April, 1970, .5.
[31] Doug Thompson, "Rally, Walk, Forum
Highlight Middletown Earth Day Events," Wesleyan Argus, 24 April,
1970, 5.
[32] John Bart, "Music, Talks, Debate
Keynotes on Earth Day," Middletown Press, 23 April 1970, evening.
[33] Wesleyan Argus, Timeline, 23
April, 1976.
[34] Ibid.
[35] Samuel Hays, "The Politics of Clean
Air," in Explorations in
Environmental History, 223-5.
[36] Samuel Hays, "A Historical
Perspective on Contemporary Environmentalism," in Explorations in
Environmental History, 382,3.
[37] JP Solomon, "Before 1972, Factories
Did What they Wanted," Wesleyan Argus, 31 Oct 1975, 3,7.