ABSTRACT

IN MANY RESPECTS, THE BEGINNING OF THE MODERN environmental movement began with the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962. The following decade was characterized not only by increased public awareness of the issues, but also by extensive and bipartisan governmental legislative initiatives. Environmental legislation passed under U.S. President Lyndon Johnson included Clear Air, Water Quality and Clean Water Restoration Acts and Amendments, Wilderness Act of 1964, Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966, National Trails System Act of 1968, Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965, Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act of 1965, National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Aircraft Noise Abatement Act of 1968, and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Johnson’s successor, President Richard Nixon, implemented more wide-ranging legislation such as the Clean Air Act of 1970, amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control act in 1972, as well as establishing the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.