Introduction to Environmental Science

President George W. Bush delivers remarks at Sequoia National Park in California May 30, 2001. “Our duty is to use the land well, and sometimes, not to use it at all. This is our responsibility as citizens; but, more than that, it is our calling as stewards of the Earth,” said the President. “Good stewardship of the environment is not just a personal responsibility, it is a public value. Americans are united in the belief that we must preserve our natural heritage and safeguard the land around us.”

The Environmental Protection Agency, one of the first such agencies in the world, documents its history in the context of the history of the environmental movement at http://www.epa.gov/history/publications/print/origins.htm.

Questions:

1. As you read the document, what other social movements were in full play at the time of Earth Day and how might they have influenced the making of Earth Day, April 22, 1970?
2. President Richard Nixon was a conservative Republican president who strongly backed the Vietnam War, yet he was a strong advocate for the environment. What has changed in the perspective on the environment since 1970? Could another mass outpouring of support for the environment occur today?

Prepared by Eric Pallant and Terry Bensel 9/05.