The Intellectual Roots Of Modern Day Environmentalism

What really caused the sudden upsurge in concern for preserving America’s environment at the beginning of the twentieth century? To what extent was this concern motivated by nostalgia for an older America, and to what extent by a desire to preserve nature and natural resources for future generations?

Have you ever thought about how your actions or opinions affected the environment around you? We’re constantly unaware of what we do that impacts the environment’s condition. One author named Wendell Berry blames the public in his article regarding the way society and the industry has treated the environment and its natural resources. This raises concerns whether we should be putting more importance on the economy or the land that we live in for the sake of our future survival. While I agree with most of Berry’s points and perspectives I slightly disagree with a few of his opinions, but nonetheless he brings up a great matter in today’s modern society.

The modern Environment Movement began with the passing of the Wilderness Act of 1964. The act established a National Wilderness System and created 9 millions acres. The main influence and writer of the act Howard Zahniser, who felt that we needed wilderness as it takes us away from technology that gives us perspective of mastering the environment rather than being a part of it (Nash, 2001). With the passing of the act Americans questioned both preservation and conservation. A new culture emerged in America that rejected societal norms and praised independence and freedom. This culture developed in the youth of America and sparked change in preservation growth and the overall outlook of wilderness.

When Americans think of nature images of the wild west, wide open plains, and majestic landscapes spring forth. Nature is part of the American heritage; a site of beauty set aside for preservation outside the industrial cities that encompasses daily life. Because of this segregation between nature and man, it is easy to forget that everything on the planet is nature, not simply the parks set aside for preservation and egos. Throughout American history, dating as far back as the indigenous people, this connection between man and the natural world has been prevalent. By examining the the conservationist movement of the twentieth century and the impact Americans have had on the environment, there is a chance to close the chasm that now exists

While the exploration or exploitation—take your pick—of the American west was just beginning to flourish, two more of our Past Environmental Heroes—Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau—were sitting, thinking, and writing in the newly-formed Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As the original transcendentalists, Emerson and Thoreau believed that there was much more to life than working feverishly and accruing wealth. Their thoughts and words were the first "cries in the wilderness" about living simply and compatibly with the natural world and their words are still inspiring millions of people around the planet who want to make peace

When thinking of the environmental movement in America, it is presumably just thought of as the effects climate change and left-winged ideas, but the history of the movement is much more complex than its current state. As Europeans began colonializing America, the wilderness was a vast and plentiful resource and new settlers quickly conquered new land. As America was created into an industrialized and urbanized nation, debates occurred on what environment of our newfound country should hold. The environmental movement started with conserving and preserving wilderness resources as an American idea, which is shown in the film Simba: King of the Beasts, and shifts to the modern environmental movement were the effects of industrialized American have effects on human health and quality of life shown in the film Blue Vinyl.

Just like the bald eagle the American way of life in the 1960s was killing America and the animal in the environment. Chemical sprayed in the air to ward off bugs like DDT was contaminating the water supply, killing the fish and harming the animals who drank from it. So in the mid 60s Congress passed a law prohibiting the use of DDT in the United States. As news of America's environmental arose the public began to organise small environment movements which played a big role in attracting the attention of the government, which passed the Clean Air and Water

The conservation movement of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the environmental movement which came about after 1950 had symbolic and ideological relationships, but were quite different in their social roots and objectives. A clear point is that especially in the beginning, only the elite, wealthy class, had time left to think and enjoy nature and joined the environmental movement organizations. It was born out a movement of amateurs. The organizations of the environmental movement viewed natural resources such as water, land, and air, as recourses that would improve the quality of life (Sandbach, 1980). The conservation movement grew out of the idea of how to use water, forests, minerals and animals, fearing that they

Although recreation and education largely contribute to the Sierra Clubs purpose, it all starts with conservation. Through the tireless efforts of the club’s founders, and hundreds of thousands of volunteers, the small grassroots movement that started as a group of friends is largely responsible for creation of our national parks, clean-fuel initiatives, and sustainable agriculture practices. In the 1950’s to better align itself with issues that directly affected the natural wildlife habitat, the club changed their emphasis from conservation to environmentalism. “This meant that by its tenth decade the Sierra Club was deeply involved in solving new and challenging problems” (pg. 10). “Air quality in many U.S. cities was causing lung disease, industries poured wastes into the nation’s waterways with impunity, and nearly every day someone discovered children playing on an abandoned toxic-waste dump” (pg. 10). Currently the environmental conservation efforts of the Sierra Club have assisted in creating numerous government organizations to regulate industrial waste, land management, air pollution just to name a few. The Sierra Club is a good example of how a group of environmental conservationists can unite with a common goal and change federal, and local policies to preserve the earth for generations to

In a slightly facetious fashion, scientist Edward O. Wilson points out to the general public both sides of the coin in regards to environmentalism and conservation of natural resources. He appeals to the emotional, logical and ethical sides of readers by pointing out the harsh effect that the desires and actions of both “radical environmentalism” and “anti- environmentalists” can have on the economy and working class citizens. These passages both comically show the overwhelming consequences that the extreme of any one standpoint can bring.

The few voices that did express concern went unheard, that is until the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, John Burroughs, Sigurd Olson, and Archibald MacLeish (Cantrill & Oravec, 1996; Dunaway, 2005; Neuzil, 2008; Spaulding, 1995). Although Thoreau’s writings of the natural world did not have much impact during his lifetime, as discussed later, they did influence many great thinkers that followed. Other notable naturalists and politicians that sought for preservation of the land include John Muir, David Brower, Joseph LeConte, Aldo Leopold, George Perkins Marsh, Gifford Pinchot, also wrote and spoke out about preservation of land, nature, and wildlife. For example, Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most influential writers

Everyday we put tons of pollution into the air, water and ground. Our population is growing each day and in turn urbanization is expanding. Teddy Roosevelt, being an avid outdoorsmen, knew the importance of setting land aside for posterity sake and in doing do set a trend for later presidents. When Richard Nixon set land aside in Alaska, which became the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), he set it aside to be never tainted by industrialization. Today republicans and some democrats want to repeal the title of National Wildlife Refuge and drill there for oil. This could have adverse effects for wildlife and the Inuit natives that call the ANWR and surrounding area home. In this paper I will

The United States has earned the reputation of a rebellious country since its birth in the revolution against Britain. Over the course of history, Americans have repeatedly confronted oppression, both foreign and national, through various wars and rights movements. Unfortunately, when it comes to environmental issues the average American has grown increasingly complacent. With a renewed urgency, government is working to combat global warming, but lacks the necessary social backing. This social support could be supplied through a new environmental movement that differs from past efforts. Throughout American history there have been three categories of environmental movements: preservation, conservation, and modern reform, all of which have

On December 2nd of 1970, President Richard Nixon established an organization to solve the growing problem surrounding the state of the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency, commonly known as the EPA, was created with the mission to establish and enforce environmental protection standards, conduct environmental research, provide assistance in eliminating pollution, and recommend new policies for environmental protection to the president. One of the influences that contributed to the development of the EPA was an article in Science magazine. Through his article The Tragedy of the Commons, Garrett Hardin conveyed the amount of damage that humans had caused to the environment. He made it clear that humans will exploit Earth’s natural

The inspiration for environmental ethics was the first Earth Day in 1970 when environmentalists started urging philosophers who were involved with environmental groups to do something about environmental ethics. An intellectual climate had developed in the last few years of the 1960s in large part because of the publication of two papers in Science: Lynn White's "The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis" (March 1967) and Garett Hardin's "The Tragedy of the Commons" (December 1968). Most influential with regard to this kind of thinking, however, was an essay in Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac, "The Land Ethic," in which Leopold explicitly claimed that the roots of the ecological