COMMUNITY
Cuyahoga River Fire - Spring 1962
Leading up to 1969 ( and admittedly , likely after that ), there is no question that activism of the Anti-Vietnam War movement took center stage . But , another social movement was also on the rise following Rachel Carson ’ s Silent Spring in 1962 . After the disastrous Santa Barbara oil spill and Cuyahoga River fire , the nation took immediate and concrete grassroots action that spurred the U . S . Congress into bi-partisan action ( ain ’ t that rich ?). In particular , the oil spill , or the “ ecological shot heard round the world ” as the New York Times called it , set off chain reactions of environmental activism culminating in Earth Day as we know it and real political change unseen up to that point in history .
Senator Gaylord Nelson , a junior congressman from Wisconsin , had previously accompanied John F . Kennedy on a speaking tour around the United States to raise awareness about environmental issues without much social or political success . Following the spill , Nelson led the charge in promoting a “ teach-in ” across the country that mirrored the idea from the Vietnam War protests . Nelson engaged and hired the help of Denis Hayes , a 25-year-old Stanford graduate , to help facilitate and organize the campaign , and nationwide student environmental activism followed suit . On April 22 , 1970 , an estimated 20 million people spanning across 1,500 college campuses participated in rallies , teachins , and speeches – the then largest demonstration ever organized in the United States . Earth Day was born , and its political and legal impact took hold : on June 9 , 1970 , President Nixon proposed the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) and by the end of that year , it was up and running . The Clean Air Act of 1970 was then signed into law on New Year ’ s Eve of that same year , passing the Senate with a unanimous vote of 73-0 and receiving a near unanimous 374-1 vote in the House of Representatives . Two years later , the 1972 Clean Water Act passed and ensured that rivers , streams , and other bodies of water were protected from pollutants and drinking water was safe to drink .
That probably paints a simplistic picture and gives all credit in a vacuum to community action following the environmental catastrophes of 1969 . In reality , the U . S . Congress had responded to ( or some in Congress attempted to respond to ) public concern of the impact humans could have on the environment . Although overhauled by the 1970 Clean Air Act , the first Clean Air Act of 1963 ( and before that , the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 ) paved the way by authorizing the development of national programs to address air pollution and allowed research to progress in pollution mitigation . Likewise , the Air Quality Act of 1967 funded and expanded research activities devoted to identifying sources of air pollution . The Resources and Conservation Act of 1959 , while unsuccessful , purported to establish a unified environmental policy and Council on Environmental Quality ( CEQ ). It also set the stage for the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( NEPA ) which passed and mandated that an environmental impact statement be published for all major federal actions projected to significantly impact the environment .
However , Earth Day and the ensuing 1970s Amendments made comprehensive corrections where previous laws had failed . The Air Quality Act of 1967 , for instance , authorized the Secretary of Health , Education , and Welfare to designate “ air quality regions ” throughout the country and delegated the states with the responsibility to administer and enforce pollution control standards for their corresponding regions . The result was that none of the states developed a pollution control program . Additionally , 60 % less air quality regions were designated than anticipated , so it seemed air pollution had no regional boundaries , and a national strategy was needed . Following the 1970 legislative overhaul , Congress adopted new national approaches to air quality standards and statutory deadlines for compliance that are pervasive today but at the time represented an unprecedented shift in policy .
In any event , it ’ s evident that the Santa Barbara spill was the straw that broke the proverbial camel ’ s back and stirred a vigorous community response that helped develop the breadth of environmental law as
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