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U.S. History 1877-Present 12.9: Environmentalism 22 Views


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Description:

Preserving the environment is actually pretty important... you know, because we live here and we don't want to leave a path of destruction in our wake and then die.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Nowadays, Americans share a pretty universal understanding

00:06

that trees equal air, air equals good, and pollution equals bad air. The basic sense [Woman pointing at a tree]

00:14

of environmentalism is deeply ingrained into society. But this wasn't always the

00:18

case in the 1970s we had 'The Lorax' to show us the way. Dr. Seuss' character was

00:23

born during the birth of the modern environmental movement. It was an era of ['The Lorax' book cover]

00:27

speaking up and making a difference. The environmental movement gained national

00:31

attention during this era right alongside the fight for women's rights

00:34

and free love. America was plowing full steam ahead into the modern era and for

00:41

those about to keeping score at home right about now is where history stops [Uncle Sam on the front of a train]

00:44

sounding like history and it sounds like what people argue about on cable news

00:48

all day. With the post-world war two baby boom and consequent production boom,

00:52

Americans started to wonder about the effects of all this progress on the

00:57

environment. While earlier conservation movements had centered on sustainable use

01:01

of the Earth's resources, but this movement focused on how to ensure a [Man chops down a tree with an axe]

01:04

safe and beautiful planet in this fully industrial age. Americans were leaving a

01:10

bigger footprint than ever before. Guess those baby boomers had heavy feet... [Giant baby foot slams down on the ground]

01:14

On top of that the emergence of a strong middle class encouraged more people to

01:18

get out into the great outdoors, people were beginning to see the joys of

01:22

traveling to national parks and other natural areas as proven by almost every

01:27

family vacation picture taken in the 1970s. Seriously everybody was camping and [Funny family picture]

01:32

for some reason all the dads were doing it in cutoff jean shorts, it was a

01:36

trying time... Well all this created a big push for the preservation of the natural

01:39

landscape and maybe a smaller push for the eradication of cutoff jean shorts... It wasn't [Person putting jean shorts into a fire]

01:44

long before the environment became a political issue, one we're still

01:47

grappling with in painfully today. One of the most influential environmentalist works

01:52

ever 'Silent Spring' was written in 1962 and it raised awareness of the harmful

01:57

environmental effects of the pesticide 'DDT'. Rachel Carson the book's author,

02:04

argued that DDT preyed upon not just one but several of the Earth's eco systems [Animals going into cloud of DDT and dying]

02:09

leaving a path of destruction in its wake. DDT was developed in 1939 and used

02:16

in World War II to help eliminate harmful insects soldiers encountered in [Soldier having DDT sprayed onto him]

02:20

the foreign theater of war. After the war it began to be used on a large scale on

02:24

America's farms to protect crop production. People were totally clueless

02:29

that this pesticide was harmful, they even sprayed it on kids.. Hey nothing says fun [Parent spraying DDT powder onto a child]

02:34

Sunday afternoon quite like a good delousing.. Well DDT had the power to

02:39

target and kill not just a single or few species of insects but hundreds of

02:44

species at the same time. Carson's research showed the effects of the [Bird dropping from the sky]

02:47

pesticide on both the bird population and other wildlife scariest of all she

02:51

warned that DDT entered the food supply by way of the plants and animals exposed

02:55

to it. She argued that the corruption of the food supply had cancer causing

02:59

effects on humans, and finally people started to pay attention. Cancer tends to [Man about to eat a fish looks shocked]

03:04

have that effect... After attacks from chemical manufacturers of the pesticide

03:08

President Kennedy himself ordered an investigation into the claims of her

03:12

book. Turns out Carson wasn't just some crazy hippie, the government backed up [Kennedy sending off an army of scientists]

03:17

her claims and DDT was banned. It was an early win for the fledgling

03:22

environmental movement, but the fight goes on to this day. Issues of climate

03:26

change, air pollution, water pollution and creating sustainable agriculture are

03:32

still hotly debated. But we think it's important to remember where the debate [Two men screaming]

03:35

started, because believe it or not it was a time when you couldn't buy organic everything. [Man pushing trolley in a supermarket]

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