Environmental Activism and Global Civil Society

Earth Day 1970 marked the beginning of the modern environmental movement. Twenty million Americans gathered to demonstrate their distress over the state of the environment. Their message was historically distinct. In the past, environmental concern revolved mainly around establishing and protecting wilderness areas for aesthetic and recreational purposes. On Earth Day 1970, it involved safeguarding the biophysical quality of life. People spoke out about oil spills, urban smog, toxic dumping and dwindling resources. They protested the use of pesticides, the killing of whales, and the production of radioactive wastes. They complained, in short, about the increasingly degraded quality of air, water, and soil, and worried out loud about its ...