Earlier this year, I read a book called Silent Spring Revolution by the American historian Douglas Brinkley. In it, Brinkley traces the rich history of environmental activism and awareness in post-World War II America, up until the 1970s, highlighting the key landmarks and figures of this process.
This book got me thinking about the value of environmental history in shaping a pathway for creating environmental progress. Usually, we consider science the most important topic for understanding environmental issues and driving solutions to tackle them. However, it is also very worthwhile to use history as a reference for our motivations to care for our planet – and the needed practical steps to do so effectively.
Environmental history can help us appreciate how collective consciousness for stewarding our planet has been around for many generations – not just in this moment. In fact, it can also help us better understand the root of the conditions which create today’s profound environmental challenges.
For example, we can look back to the advent of the Industrial Revolution – beginning in the 18th century in Great Britain, then spreading across the West in the 19th century – as a defining moment that unfortunately helped spark much of our modern environmental ills. Significant increases in pollution and waste came because of rapid industrial activity, such as manufacturing within factories that emits carbon dioxide into the air or wastage material dumped into a nearby river. It also sped up deforestation, as advances in lumbar processing led to wider swathes of forests being removed.
With growing environmental troubles, however, also came a growing consciousness about the importance of stewarding our environment. Intellectuals like Henry David Thoreau were decrying the unrestrained extraction of natural resources for consumption, while writing of the joys of embracing nature. Alongside this, leaders such as Theodore Roosevelt began to actively champion conservation as a key policy goal, helping to preserve hundreds of millions of acres of America’s natural land while pioneering national parks.
Further into the 20th century, the frightening spectre of nuclear conflict, which came to the fore following the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, catalysed more environmental awareness and activism. More people were not only horrified at how nuclear weapons could threaten human life en masse, but also concerned at the impact nuclear tests were already having for air quality. In due time, it led to landmark agreements such as the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963.
And there were the landmark contributions of Rachel Carson, who, to this day, remains arguably the most influential environmental activist of all time. Her many works, particularly Silent Spring, communicated the urgency of creating solutions to address the different facets of environmental degradation.
Thus, we see concrete evidence that progress has been made in advancing environmental causes over the generations. For people actively working towards a greener, more sustainable planet today, especially among the younger generation, it is tempting to regard it as simply an anxiously hoped-for outcome that may or may not come to pass in the future. However, from historical examples, we have evidence that environmental progress has already taken place in different ways!
We also see through lines in the justifications brought up in resisting environmental change through different generations. For example, the Cold War served as a justification for the two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States, to conduct tests for their nuclear weapons, no matter the detriments to the environment. There was also backlash against Rachel Carson’s expose of the chemical DDT, fuelled by corporate interests.
Today, we see parallels in the sources of resistance toward environmental action. For example, nations that have tensions with one another will hamper efforts to mutually collaborate in combatting climate change. Meanwhile, corporate focus on profit-making over social responsibility can continue to hamper efforts in addressing matters like reducing climate emissions or cleaning our rivers.
All things considered, these examples highlight how valuable it is to look to history for inspiration and guidance for today’s environmental action. For those of us today eager to move things forward today, may we be encouraged by previous examples of progress, while also understanding common vectors of resisting progress. And may we also be cognizant of how our action – or inaction – to tackle the present climate crisis will have ripple effects far down the future, even more so than right now.
References
Anderson, Kara. “What was the Industrial Revolution’s Environmental Impact?” Leaf Media. Retrieved from https://greenly.earth/en-gb/blog/ecology-news/what-was-the-industrial-revolutions-environmental-impact
Brinkley, Douglas. Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening. HarperCollins, New York: NY, 2022.
Gupta, Abhishek. “The Dark Side of Industrial Revolution: Environmental Destruction”. Massive Earth Foundation. Retrieved from https://massivefoundation.org/opinion/dark-side-of-industrial-revolution/
“It’s Easy Being Green: Happy Birthday, Henry David Thoreau” American Progress. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/article/its-easy-being-green-happy-birthday-henry-david-thoreau/
“Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation”. National Park Service. Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/historyculture/theodore-roosevelt-and-conservation.htm
Posted 04/09/2025
