"Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

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For thousands of years the environment stayed close to its natural state, exerting its influence on living forms. Yet in the past century, things have changed drastically as human beings have altered the paradigm of the environment. Now they are the masters, putting their stamp on the earth through pollution and contamination and poison. There needs to be action to monitor such destruction, but consideration of both sides of the environmental issue should be taken into account to determine what form of action should be taken.

The person who almost singlehandedly brought this environmental destruction to the forefront of the public’s awareness was Rachel Carson. In a chapter of her book Silent Spring called “The Obligation to Endure” she talked about the various poisons that were afflicting Americans without their knowledge or consent. Many forms of contamination infiltrated waterways, air and earth. Pollution became rampant and difficult to reverse. Radiation, in the form of Strontium 90 was being unleashed. It permeated the atmosphere after governmentally approved nuclear explosions. Acid rain and fallout occurred. It got in the soil and the food supply and eventually into the bodies of human beings, staying there until death. In addition, pesticides were being developed at an alarming rate, and were used indiscriminately, killing both good and bad insects. When the bad insects bounced back, deadlier products were developed, causing an endless cycle in the chemical war. She asked the question, “Can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a barrage of poisons without making it unfit for all life?” Despite the destruction wreaked, she documented that many specialists wielded ruthless authority in spraying operations and these abuses were unchecked in both state and federal agencies. She felt it was nothing short of biocide. A Silent Spring was a wakeup call to such abuse. In his article “Chemical Fallout: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, Radioactive Fallout and the Environmental Movement”, Ralph Lutts stated that her book was a landmark that altered the American consciousness right up to the highest level of President Kennedy himself who changed environmental regulations. Her warnings urged the public to take the initiative to correct the toxins that had been unleashed. Because of her stance, the modern environmental movement came about. According to the article “State of the Environment-an Overview,” the effect of Silent Spring produced a rapid response as environmental protection actions sprang up throughout the 1960s. It especially caught on with the college generation, where the cause competed to become almost more of an issue that the Vietnam War. Earth Day was created. A series of unprecedented laws were passed to protect the environment and create the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an organization that oversaw setting limits on pollutants and investigating the environmental impact of proposed, federally funded projects. Basic laws were passed throughout the 70s involving clean air, endangered species, safe drinking water, and the Resource and Recovery Act. Almost every state had agencies in charge of protecting the environment. Activist organizations, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace served as watchdogs to protect the environment. Dangerous chemicals such as DDT were banned. As conditions improved, however, so did the zeal to make the environment always protected. One of the objections was the expense involved in the regulating the environment and that other concerns, such as AIDS and hunger needed to be addressed. Another objection was that the environment had replaced placed religion as the mainstay gospel of many and that it had become a sort of group think project. In his article “Green Guilt” Stephen Asma talked about several incidents that brought the environment as religion to his awareness. Upon brushing his teeth, he left the water running. His young son scolded him with the reprimand,” Don’t you love the earth?” Asma said that his child runs around turning off lights even when he is using them. Another time, a friend admitted that he didn’t recycle and the response was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. Asma commented,” He suddenly became a pariah. A heretic had been detected among the orthodox flock. During the indignant tongue lashing that followed, people’s faces twisted with moral outrage”. He explained that people who are passionate about saving the planet justify it through demonstrating the seriousness of the problem and the high stakes concerned. Indeed, there are challenges to the environment and steps must be taken to make it better. But he believes it has become a replacement for religion. His argument: “Instead of religious sins plaguing our consciousness, we now have the transgressions of leaving the water running, leaving the lights on, failing to recycle, and using plastic grocery bags instead of paper. The new heresies include failure to compost or failure to go organic”. None of these statements are meant to belittle the environmental cause. It is real. It is worthy of our attention. And we must take action. The first way to take action is to be aware that there is a problem with the environment and it must be monitored through both governmental regulations and individual responsibility. When there is a problem, whether it is personal, social, or universal, we don’t have to go overboard, but we do need to take action ourselves. We can do so by doing our part to decrease our carbon footprint, whether by recycling, organic farming, or refusing to pollute. It is a noble thing to address the needs of the planet. However, above all, things have to be done in moderation and we need to make sure that we proceed accordingly.

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