ABSTRACT
Earth Day 1990 embodied the promise of environmentalism as well as the internal and external challenges facing the movement. The anniversary opened a decade in which environmental activists extended their campaigns globally, reacted to the spread of market-oriented environmentalism, and countered another round of challenges from increasingly well-funded opponents. The decline of the Cold War had lifted global prospects for negotiations, creating a “window of opportunity” for transnational environmental reform. The success of international treaties negotiated in the late 1980s in reducing the nuclear threat and limiting ozone-depleting chemicals augured well. The window of opportunity that opened with the decline of the Cold War and the election of a pro-environment administration soon narrowed. The mid-1990s found environmentalists unexpectedly playing defense despite popular support and positions of influence in the administration.
