SECTION 4: The Environmental Movement
▲ Rachel Carson
A 1962 cartoon shows a man choking on fumes from a pesticide he uses to kill a fly. ►
WITNESS HISTORY 
AUDIO
An Environmental Wake-up Call
“There once was a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings…. Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Mysterious maladies swept across the flocks of chickens; the cattle and sheep sickened and died…. There was a strange stillness. The birds, for example—where had they gone? … On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh…. No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world. The people had done it to themselves.”
—Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962
Objectives
- Assess the causes and effects of the environmental movement.
- Analyze why environmental protection became a controversial issue.
Terms and People
- Rachel Carson
- toxic waste
- Earth Day
- EPA
- Clean Air Act
- Clean Water Act
- Endangered Species Act
NoteTaking
Reading Skill: Recognize Sequence As you read, record major events in the environmental movement in a flowchart like the one below.
Why It Matters The “rights revolution” of the 1960s and 1970s eventually influenced all aspects of American life—including people’s right to a clean and safe environment. The story told by Rachel Carson pointed out that human actions were harming not only the environment but people themselves. Public awareness of environmental issues prompted an important debate about the government’s role in environmental regulations. Section Focus Question: What forces gave rise to the environmental movement, and what impact did it have?
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