Marjorie Spock appreciation
Posted: 12 Apr 2023, 14:51
An Unsung Hero in the Fight Against DDT and in the Rise of the Modern Environmental Movement
Sandra Postel
Few would question that Rachel Carson’s lyrical bestseller Silent Spring changed the course of human engagement with the natural world. It woke communities up to the dangers of backyard pesticides, and, in 1972, just a decade after the book’s publication, motivated the US government to ban most uses of DDT. During the sixties and early seventies, it helped spawn the passage of a slew of environmental laws—from the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act to the Wilderness Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act. It helped motivate the formation, in 1970, of the US Environmental Protection Agency to safeguard the country’s air, land, and water. For this public awakening and civil action, Rachel Carson is justifiably credited with launching the modern environmental movement....
Sandra Postel
Few would question that Rachel Carson’s lyrical bestseller Silent Spring changed the course of human engagement with the natural world. It woke communities up to the dangers of backyard pesticides, and, in 1972, just a decade after the book’s publication, motivated the US government to ban most uses of DDT. During the sixties and early seventies, it helped spawn the passage of a slew of environmental laws—from the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act to the Wilderness Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act. It helped motivate the formation, in 1970, of the US Environmental Protection Agency to safeguard the country’s air, land, and water. For this public awakening and civil action, Rachel Carson is justifiably credited with launching the modern environmental movement....