CHAPTER ONE:
Conservatives Before and After Earth Day
|
Primary Sources
|
1964
1970
“THE OCEANS AND THE ATMOSPHERE ARE INTERACTING PARTS OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEM UPON WHICH WE DEPEND NOT ONLY FOR THE QUALITY OF OUR LIVES, BUT FOR LIFE ITSELF” 1971
1972
“WILDERNESS AREAS, FORESTS, FISH AND WILDLIFE ARE PRECIOUS NATURAL RESOURCES” - NIXON REPUBLICAN PLATFORM
“I AM COMPELLED TO WITHHOLD MY APPROVAL FROM S. 2770, THE FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1972...” - NIXON 1977
1980
Julian Simon’s “Life on Earth is Improving” The Washington Post article
In contrast to Paul Ehrlich’s 1968 book, Julian Simon, a professor of economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana, argued that entrepreneurship and innovation would solve ailments resulting from a rising human population. His 1980 The Washington Post article critiqued the need for conservation of natural resources. 2018
“WE HAVE ENDED THE WAR ON AMERICAN ENERGY — AND WE HAVE ENDED THE WAR ON CLEAN COAL” - TRUMP |
|
Discussion Questions
- What are some reasons why the Republican Party had a stronger claim to the “Environmental Party” than the Democrats up until the early 1970’s?
- In what ways were the roots of modern conservatism to be found in the 1930’s? In what ways did conservatism only really emerge later?
- Rather than ideology, what identity was more representative of congressional support for environmental reform?
- In the 1960’s, John Saylor was a Pennsylvania Republican who strongly supported the coal industry, and Barry Goldwater was the leading Republican conservative who generally opposed government regulations. Why were Republicans such as Saylor and Goldwater supporters of environmental protection?
- How did Walter Hickel and the Nixon administration react to the Santa Barbara oil spill? How did the early environmental crisis of the 1970’s affect the Nixon administration?
- Why did Nixon waver on his commitment to an environmental agenda?
- Why did President Nixon veto the Clean Water Act in 1972? Why did Congress override his veto? What insight does that offer into early U.S. environmental politics?
- Although Reagan was one of the leading conservatives in the Republican Party in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, as governor of California he set strict air quality standards, expanded the state parks system, and blocked the development of dams and highways. Why did a conservative such as Reagan support environmental protections in California?
- In what way did Lewis Powell’s 1971 memo prefigure contemporary conservative strategy?
- How did the early 1970’s oil crisis affect the rise of conservatism and concerns about the environment?
Additional Readings
Twentieth-Century Antecedents of the Environmental Movement
“The Trouble with Wilderness”
William Cronon | Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1995
A Symbol of Wilderness: Echo Park and the American Conservation Movement
Mark W. T. Harvey | Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994
Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency
Samuel Hays | Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1959
Environmental Inequalities: Class, Race, and Industrial Pollution in Gary, Indiana, 1945–1980
Andrew Hurley | Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995
Escaping the Dark, Gray City: Fear and Hope in Progressive-Era Conservation
Ben Johnson | Yale University Press, 2017
Nature’s New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement
Neil Maher | Oxford University Press, 2007
This Land, This Nation: Conservation, Rural America, and the New Deal
Sarah T. Philips | Columbia, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007
The Hunter’s Game: Poachers and Conservationists in Twentieth-Century America
Louis Warren | Yale University Press, 1997
William Cronon | Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1995
A Symbol of Wilderness: Echo Park and the American Conservation Movement
Mark W. T. Harvey | Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994
Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency
Samuel Hays | Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1959
Environmental Inequalities: Class, Race, and Industrial Pollution in Gary, Indiana, 1945–1980
Andrew Hurley | Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995
Escaping the Dark, Gray City: Fear and Hope in Progressive-Era Conservation
Ben Johnson | Yale University Press, 2017
Nature’s New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement
Neil Maher | Oxford University Press, 2007
This Land, This Nation: Conservation, Rural America, and the New Deal
Sarah T. Philips | Columbia, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007
The Hunter’s Game: Poachers and Conservationists in Twentieth-Century America
Louis Warren | Yale University Press, 1997
Rise of Conservatism
The Other Side of the Sixties: Young Americans for Freedom and the Rise of Conservative Politics
John A. Andrew III | New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1997
The Conservative Ascendancy: How the GOP Right Made Political History
Donald Critchlow | Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007
From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism
Darren Dochuk | New York: Norton, 2011
“Moving Mountains: The Business of Evangelicalism and Extraction in a Liberal Age”
Darren Dochuck | What’s Good for Business: Business and American Politics since World War II, New York: Oxford University Press, 2012
The Education of Ronald Regan: The General Electric Years and the Untold Story of His Conversion to Conservatism
Thomas W. Evans | New York: Columbia University Press, 2006
The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism
David Farber | Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010
Sleepwalking through History: America in the Reagan Years
Haynes Johnson | New York: Norton, 1991
One Nation under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America
Kevin M. Kruse |New York: Basic Books, 2016
The Silent Majority: Suburban Politics in the Sunbelt South
Matthew Lassiter | Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007
Invisible Hands: The Businessmen’s Crusade against the New Deal
Kim Phillips-Fein |New York: Norton, 2010
The 1964 Republican Convention: Barry Goldwater and the Beginning of the Conservative Movement
John C. Skipper | Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016
John A. Andrew III | New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1997
The Conservative Ascendancy: How the GOP Right Made Political History
Donald Critchlow | Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007
From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism
Darren Dochuk | New York: Norton, 2011
“Moving Mountains: The Business of Evangelicalism and Extraction in a Liberal Age”
Darren Dochuck | What’s Good for Business: Business and American Politics since World War II, New York: Oxford University Press, 2012
The Education of Ronald Regan: The General Electric Years and the Untold Story of His Conversion to Conservatism
Thomas W. Evans | New York: Columbia University Press, 2006
The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism
David Farber | Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010
Sleepwalking through History: America in the Reagan Years
Haynes Johnson | New York: Norton, 1991
One Nation under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America
Kevin M. Kruse |New York: Basic Books, 2016
The Silent Majority: Suburban Politics in the Sunbelt South
Matthew Lassiter | Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007
Invisible Hands: The Businessmen’s Crusade against the New Deal
Kim Phillips-Fein |New York: Norton, 2010
The 1964 Republican Convention: Barry Goldwater and the Beginning of the Conservative Movement
John C. Skipper | Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016
Earth Day and Origins of Modern Environmentalism
Nixon and the Environment
J. Brooks Flippen | Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2000
Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement
Robert Gottlieb | Washington, D.C., 1993
The Myth of the Silent Spring: Rethinking the Origins of American Environmentalism
Chad Montrie | Berkeley: University of California Press, 2018
“Bomb Shelters, Arks and Ecology”
Robert Moses | National Review, 8 September 1970
Gaylord Nelson Website on Earth Day
The Malthusian Moment: Global Population Growth and the Birth of American Environmentalism
Thomas Robertson | New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2012
The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation
Adam Rome | New York: Hill & Wang, 2013
“’Give Earth a Chance’: The Environmental Movement and the Sixties”
Adam Rome | Journal of American History, 1 September 2003
Crabgrass Crucible: Suburban Nature and the Rise of Environmentalism in Twentieth-Century America
Christopher C. Sellers |Chapel Hill, NC, 2015
J. Brooks Flippen | Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2000
Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement
Robert Gottlieb | Washington, D.C., 1993
The Myth of the Silent Spring: Rethinking the Origins of American Environmentalism
Chad Montrie | Berkeley: University of California Press, 2018
“Bomb Shelters, Arks and Ecology”
Robert Moses | National Review, 8 September 1970
Gaylord Nelson Website on Earth Day
The Malthusian Moment: Global Population Growth and the Birth of American Environmentalism
Thomas Robertson | New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2012
The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation
Adam Rome | New York: Hill & Wang, 2013
“’Give Earth a Chance’: The Environmental Movement and the Sixties”
Adam Rome | Journal of American History, 1 September 2003
Crabgrass Crucible: Suburban Nature and the Rise of Environmentalism in Twentieth-Century America
Christopher C. Sellers |Chapel Hill, NC, 2015