editorial Environmental concerns are here t o stay When environment fad is over, a hard core will still be devoted to fighting the polluter
W
hen the April 22 Environmental Teach-In activities drew to a close, many industrialists sighed a mighty sigh of relief that a trying time had come to an end. The last automobile had been ritually buried, the last demonstrators had left the plant gates, the last TV, radio, and press stories on citizen action had boomed forth to inundate the public. Some in industry were openly gleeful that they had come through a period of intense public scrutiny with just a few flesh wounds. How fortunate, they said, that E-Day activities had been artfully transmuted from potentially damaging jugular vein attacks on industrial pollution into a harmless frolic in the sun to the pulsating beat of rock music. We have news for those who believe that industry is now immune from attack from without. The battle has barely begun. Although many of those who were “active” on April 22 have assuredly passed on to another fad, there exists nevertheless a hard core of people who are not only concerned about the quality of the environment-they are in deadly interest when they say that they intend to do something about it. For these people, Earth Day merely crystallized previously unformed beliefs that pollution of the environment is a threat to the continued existence of our planet. One does not have to share these beliefs to be struck by the fervor with which they are held. Concern is so strong, indeed, that it would be a brave man who would predict (as some have) that in a year or so, all the fuss will be over. To do that would be to underestimate seriously the intelligence and sincerity of those who are most concerned. They do not merely complain petulantly that youth is being left out of the decision-making processes of society (though, to be sure, that is one of the more persistent complaints). The citizen movement for a cleaner environment is, indeed, composed predominantly of young people, but they are by no means all students, or indigents, or self-seekers, or riders on a buoyant crest of youthful exuberance. Few of these
people advocate overthrowing society by force. Most believe-if perhaps somewhat hesitantly-that reform and control of pollution can be achieved through the orderly processes of democracy. They certainly intend to try. This month’s Viewpoint (page 46 1) presents the views of Denis Hayes, National Coordinator for Environmental Action, Inc., the organization which served as the coordinating medium for the April 22 teach-in. Mr. Hayes’ views are worthy of close attention from the industrial community. For Hayes promises that citizen action in the wake of Earth Day will be no funfilled rock concert embellished by a few speeches. It will take the form of a concerted, informed effort to make industrial polluters clean up. The very legality of the steps Hayes proposes should help industry recognize that he is in earnest. While ES&T does not, of course, necessarily endorse or reject the plans of Environmental Action, we do feel that the very existence of a strong voice in the public interest is an important part of the democratic process through which compromise decisions regarding the direction of society are always reached. To us, dangers surrounding the citizen movement are twofold: one, that industry will use its considerable powers to kill the movement when it becomes-as it will-a severe irritant; two, that the movement itself will fizzle out when it fails-as it will-to make measurable progress straight away. Whether or not citizen concern about the environment continues to be a fairly unified, organized effort, one thing is certain-it will not just disappear. Anyone who believes that it will is in for a rude shock. The natives are restless, and it is going to take more than the usual public relations effort to pacify them.
Volume 4, Number 6, June 1970 457 Circle No. I on Readers’ Service Card
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