A Look Back-Twenty Years Ago: Keepers of Our Planet

摘要

Environmentalism used to be sheer idealism: Americans heard the pleas and demands of many grass-root organizations, but the environment was not a "dinner party" topic. Times have changed, however. Welcome to the 1990's. The buzz word is "environment," and we enter this decade riding a growing wave of conservation support. Industry management will be forced to ride with this wave or drown in litigation, legislation, mail, picketing, and public ridicule. "Americans began to open their eyes to homeland pollution in 1962, as a result of Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring," explains John Horton, E.P.A. Public Affairs Officer for Region 7. The book, which talked about indiscriminate use of pesticides, caused a public revolution and influenced a wide discipline of professions to start thinking about environmental protection. The concern has continued. This April, Earth Day celebrated its 20th anniversary.