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| Rachel Carson Postage Stamp issued in 1981 |
In the papers and
scattered on the Internet folks are taking note of the 50th
anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. As every
introductory paragraph of every article or feature about the book has the
phrase “inspired the modern environmental movement” or something of that
nature, I’d like to take a moment to consider why this book created the fervor
that it did and where we presently stand because of Carson and her book.
Carson
targeted the use of pesticides, particularly DDT, in her book. Most Americans
could not see the harmful effects from the misuse of these substances. They
could not witness the cracking of the DDT weakened eggshells of pelicans and
eagles and their subsequent empty nests, nor were most of the people living in
this country privy to the topsy-turvy ecological landscapes created by
pesticides.
But
Americans could bear witness to the harm industrialization caused their
environments. And a large number of folks felt that things were getting worse.
In 1955 Los Angeles declared its first smog alert. In the sixties and seventies
these alerts became more frequent.[i]
Beaches of Lake Erie that people had enjoyed for decades were closed because of
pollution, and commercial fishing in that body of water had been severely impaired.[ii]
Other lakes and rivers were increasingly fouled with industrial waste and
poorly treated sewage.
Though
the specifics of the book differed from people’s everyday experiences, the
central leitmotif of Silent Spring—that as far as Mother Nature was concerned
something was out of whack and that we were, because of our carelessness and
hubris in matters of the environment, the cause of that out of
whackness—resonated with the American People.
In
many ways our environmental problems have increased since the time of Silent
Spring. Mountaintop removal has destroyed over 500 mountains of Appalachia, as
well as destroying communities and ruining the health of many
Appalachians. Oil spills still
kill fish and waterfowl. These and other problems plague us and our environment
despite the environmental movement and the workings of our government that
Silent Spring inspired, such as the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, NEPA,
and the EPA.
Carson
is often compared to Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin,
stirred antislavery sentiments and prepared the way for the Civil War and
emancipation. I often think that as far as environmental awareness, we are
living through a time comparable to the hundred years after the Civil War. Just
as the sons and daughters, grandsons and daughters, of freed slaves were
technically emancipated yet still enslaved by discrimination, segregation, and
Jim Crow, we are environmentally safeguarded by the environmental laws of the
early seventies yet still enslaved by the same mindset of hubris and
carelessness that saw the spraying of hundreds of tons of DDT and other
pesticides across field and forest that Carson addressed in Silent Spring.
With anti-environmentalism threatening the 50 year legacy left by Silent Spring, it would be easy to despair. But we can also look forward as well. Like the struggle of civil rights 50 years ago, perhaps we are only beginning our work of environmentalism. I remain hopeful.
