Chapter 1: Continuing the Promise of Earth Day

MAJOR EVENTS BEFORE EARTH DAY
THAT RAISED ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS

1962
Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring, alerts the general public to the hidden dangers associated with pesticide use. Silent Spring becomes a cornerstone of the environmental movement, highlighting the causal relationship between human action and adverse changes to human health and the environment.

1968
Apollo 8 transmits the first images of the Earth as a luminous blue sphere in the otherwise dark void of outer space. The images of our planet from the Apollo moon missions give rise to feelings that our Earth's environment is something fragile and precious that must be protected -- providing inspiration to a nascent environmental movement.

1969
An explosion on an oil platform six miles off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, spills 200,000 gallons of crude oil -- creating an 800 mile oil slick that mars 35 miles of the California coast. Incoming tides wash the corpses of dead seals and dolphins on shore; nearly 3,700 birds are estimated to have died.

In Cleveland, Ohio, the Cuyahoga River catches fire and burns due to chemical contamination. This event galvanizes growing public concerns about the threats of unregulated toxic chemical use and disposal.

1970
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) is signed into law by President Richard Nixon on January 1, 1970. Heralded as the Magna Carta of the country's environmental movement, NEPA established a framework for the Federal government to assess the environmental effects of its major decisions.

Membership in the Sierra Club grows from 15,000 in 1960 to 113,000 in 1970 -- an increase of more than 700 percent. The National Audubon Society also sees its membership grow significantly during the decade -- from 32,000 in 1960 to 148,000 in 1970.