After Silent Spring: American Environmental History and Politics, 1950-2000

This set of four lectures examines the modern revolution in environmental regulation in the US that began in the 1950s. We will be exploring the emergence of environmentalism in the 1960s and the regulatory revolution wrought by one of the most unlikely of reformers: Richard Nixon. During his brief tenure as president, the foundations of modern environmental regulation came into being including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Other figures such as Rachel Carson, William Ruckelshaus, Russell Train, James Watt and Al Gore play key roles. We will also explore the changing politics of environmentalism as partisan divisions and extreme rhetoric lead to a policy crisis in the 21st century.