Posted: September 9th, 2022

Rise of the Environmental Movement

The Rise of the Environmental Movements
Introduction
In consideration of all the “new” social movements that emerged in the late 1960s, the environmental movements would turn out to cause a persistent effect on politics and also endured some of the most wide-ranging institutionalism. This includes the professionalization of their undertakings and the regulations put in place for their access to policy-makers. It is pressure from the environmental movements that environmental ministries have become a common feature in governments of the West. While the emergence of the green parties was only a trivial part of the greening of politics among industrial societies, their members now are clutching the respective portfolios in the governments of three of the four Western European states. They have established players in many of the Western countries leading to both competition and courting with other larger parties.
Despite the recurrent mass media reports of the decline in the environmental movement, there is enough evidence to prove its enduring vitality. The likelihood of young people becoming members or paying supporters to the respective organization is increasing daily. There are many reasons for this continuous rise, but the primary one was to save an environment that was following the downhill spiral of destruction. The book, “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson lit a spark of environmentalism that was not going to go down (Otsuka, 2019). This is because, with time, more reasons emerge on why the call for preserving the environment becomes persistent. To this effect, it is essential to understand the fundamental causes of long-standing environmental movements.
The Growth of Scientific Ecology
Before the second world war, intuitive and romantic ideas were considered the intellectual pillars of the preservation movement. At the time, any arguments for preserving nature were either esthetic or religious, which would be changed by the incoming scientific ecology (Harry & Harry, 1974). This field was concerned with the relationships existing between diverse species of organisms inhabiting the region. The human being, being the dominant species in many of the land regions,
Studies would come up with the effect of human activities on the other non-human population. The findings from these studies were that the human interferences were causing a drastic impact on the natural ecological systems on other desirable species. Major authors such as Fairfield Osborn, William Vogt and Rachel Carson published works related to these effects (Harry & Harry, 1974). The printed books were not widespread until the late 1960s where intellectuals and preservationists widely read them. They published works indicated that it was time for limits to be put on human activities to cease the negative and ecological consequences coming from industrial civilization.
Relevant stakeholders such as the scientists, intellectuals, and preservationists would develop a cultural and intellectual framework that became the cornerstone of the latter-day environmental movement. It is the arguments and findings of scientific ecology that strengthened the ecological position. Apart from the esthetic cases that preservationists were giving, they had more reason to appeal to the government’s support. Environmental arguments were also able to appeal to the popular self-interest towards fighting for their survival compared to the least popular esthetics. A broadened scope of discussions from the distinct aspects led to the preservationists and also other individuals with similar ideological beliefs coming together to discuss the tradition and urban challenges related to the environment.
The Increased Interest to Outdoor Recreation
As the preservationist movement was broadening its scope on nature to bring in urban concepts, a considerable percentage of the population was becoming interested in the scenic environments (Harry & Harry, 1974). The volume and frequency of visits to the natural scenic sites increased tremendously. This was also made possible by technological advancements that improved the efficiency of travel. People could now roam freely in their outdoor recreation activities to different parks. This was different for the urban population in the earlier times as they were limited to visiting only city parks and recreation sites close to the city.
The more individuals incorporated this kind of outdoor activity into their lifestyle, they increasingly started to value nature as an essential recreation resource. Furthermore, the education systems had incorporated the importance of natural resources and their preservation into the curriculum. Organizations such as Boy Scouts provided experiences that would teach children the importance of nature (Harry & Harry, 1974). Advertisements also played the role of publicizing the value of nature via scenic backdrops for different products. It is these many pro-naturist sentiments that would create a population demanding nature experiences. Support was offered to the environmental movement to continue fighting and call for the protection of the environment hence their growth.
The 1960s Series of Catastrophes
A number of intensive environmental catastrophes occurred in the 1960s that attracted attention on the importance of the environmental conservation call. These events would push the environmental movements further into action. They included the New York’s power black out nd garbage strikes in 1955, the burning that occurred at Ohio River in 1969 specifically around the industrial regions and also the Oil Spilling at Santa Barbara (Silveira, 2007).
Across the nation, numerous protests involved writing of letter campaigns and theatre-like occurrences. The demonstrations would attract students on different campuses into the environmental movement. Therefore, schools such as Columbia University held discussions to reject the conversion of parklands into a university gymnasium around the nearby black community into a university gymnasium. Additionally, the demonstration at People’s Park that happened in Berkeley in 1969 protesting against the making of university park from a community garden (Silveira, 2007). All these events played a huge role in increasing awareness of the environment in the United States.
The fact that young people were increasingly becoming part of this revolution meant the environmental movements were only going to rise. This is because the things they advocated for were widely shared with their colleagues and communities. Subsequently, there were many people focused on preserving the environment and offering their support to the environmental movements for their valued activities.
Conclusion
From the inception of environmental conservation discussions among the preservationists, and other intellectuals, the debate was not going to die any time close because they were handling a topic that was important to each human being/ it is just that there was no increased awareness on the issue for them to support and push for the rise of the environmental movements. Nonetheless, the support from research in scientific ecology, the increased interests for nature’s recreation activities, and the series of ecological disasters would increase the importance of key stakeholders. Each of them learned that the natural resources were valuable, and it was only prudent that its conservation was prioritized. To this effect, the respective movements were respected, and their popularity would rise.

References
Harry, J., & Harry, J. (1974). Causes Of Contemporary Environmentalism. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 2(1), 3-7. Retrieved April 22, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/23261515
Otsuka, K. (2019). The evolution of environmental movements: Responding to impending threats. Retrieved from https://smea.uw.edu/currents/the-evolution-of-environmental-movements-responding-to-impending-threats/
Silveira, S. (2007). The American environmental movement: Surviving through diversity. Retrieved from https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/law/lawreviews/journals/bcealr/28_2-3/07_TXT.htm

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