STUDY MATERIAL
VIVEKANANDA COLLEGE
THAKURPUKUR
NAAC ACCREDITED GRADE—’A’
08/1/2017 © Vivekananda College, Thakurpukur 1
Subject: Environmental Science
Topic: Environmentalism
Name of the Teacher:
Sumana Mukherjee
Dept. of Environmental Science
© Vivekananda College, Thakurpukur
8/1/2017 2
Environmentalism
Part I unit I
What is environmentalism?
• Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy,
ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental
protection and improvement of the health of the environment.
• Environmentalism advocates the lawful preservation, restoration
and/or improvement of the natural environment, and may be
referred to as a movement to control pollution or protect plant and
animal diversity.
• The word was first coined in 1922.
• Environmentalism is a concept which comprise of several similar
[Link] such as a land ethic, environmental ethics,
biodiversity, ecology, and the biophilia hypothesis (the urge to
affiliate with other forms of life) figure predominantly.
• environmentalism is an attempt to balance relations between
humans and the various natural systems on which they depend in
such a way that all the components are accorded a proper degree of
sustainability.
• Environmentalism and environmental concerns are often
represented by the colour green, but this association has been
appropriated by the marketing industries for the tactic known as
greenwashing.
History :
• A concern for environmental protection has recurred in diverse forms,
in different parts of the world, throughout history. For example, in
Europe, King Edward I of England banned the burning of sea-coal by
proclamation in London in 1272, after its smoke had become a
problem.
• The origins of the environmental movement lay in the response to
increasing levels of smoke pollution in the atmosphere during the
Industrial Revolution. The emergence of great factories and immense
growth in coal consumption gave rise to an unprecedented level of air
pollution in industrial areas in 1900s.
• The first large-scale, modern environmental laws came in the form of
British Alkali Act, passed in 1863, to regulate the deleterious air
pollution (gaseous hydrochloric acid) from soda ash factories.
• The after effect of Industrial revolution came in the form of the Great Smog of
1952 in London, which almost brought the city to a standstill and may have caused
upward of 6,000 deaths that the Clean Air Act 1956 was passed and pollution in
the city was finally brought to an end.
• Systematic efforts on behalf of the environment only began in the late 19th
century; it grew out of the amenity movement in Britain in the 1870s, which was a
reaction to industrialization, the growth of cities, and worsening air and water
pollution. Starting with the formation of the Commons Preservation Society in
1865, the movement was successful in rural preservation against the
encroachments of industrialisation.
• The movement in the United States began in the late 19th century, out of concerns
for protecting the natural resources of the West, with individuals such as John
Muir and Henry David Thoreau making key philosophical contributions.
• In the 20th century, environmental ideas continued to grow in popularity and
recognition. Efforts were starting to be made to save some wildlife, particularly the
American bison. The death of the last passenger pigeon as well as the
endangerment of the American bison helped to focus the minds of
conservationists and popularize their concerns. In 1916 the National Park Service
was founded by US President Woodrow Wilson.
• In 1962, Silent Spring by American biologist Rachel Carson was published.
The book catalogued the environmental impacts of the indiscriminate
spraying of DDT in the US and questioned the logic of releasing large
amounts of chemicals into the environment without fully understanding
their effects on ecology or human health. The book suggested that DDT
and other pesticides may cause cancer and that their agricultural use is a
threat to wildlife, particularly birds. The resulting public concern led to
the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency in
1970 which subsequently banned the agricultural use of DDT in the US in
1972.
• The book's legacy was to produce a far greater awareness of
environmental issues and interest into how people affect the
environment. With this new interest in environment people become
interested about the problems such as air pollution and petroleum spills
etc. New pressure groups formed, notably Greenpeace and Friends of the
Earth (US), as well as notable local organizations.
Silent spring by Rachel Carson
• The world's first political parties to campaign on a predominantly
environmental platform were the United Tasmania Group of Tasmania,
Australia and the Values Party of New Zealand.
• The first national green party in Europe was PEOPLE, founded in Britain in
February 1973, which eventually turned into the Ecology Party, and then the
Green Party.
• Another milestone in the movement was the creation of an Earth Day. Earth
Day was first observed in San Francisco and other cities on March 21, 1970,
the first day of spring. It was created to give awareness to environmental
issues.
• The UN's first major conference on international environmental issues, the
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (also known as the
Stockholm Conference), was held on June, 1972. It marked a turning point in
the development of international environmental politics.
• In 1979, James Lovelock, a British scientist, published Gaia: A new look at life
on Earth, which put forth the Gaia hypothesis; it proposes that life on earth
can be understood as a single organism. This became an important part of the
Deep Green ideology. Throughout the rest of the history of environmentalism
there has been debate and argument between more radical followers of this
Deep Green ideology and more mainstream environmentalists.
