Two years after President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency, the newly created agency sent out 100 photographers to document the state of the environment in the country, and captured images of pollution, neglect and decay, not to mention images of life in the 1970s. These photos represent a fascinating time capsule of life at the beginning of a decade when the environmental movement was in its infancy.
The U.S. National Archives digitized more than 15,000 photographs from the series, all of which are available on the Flickr photo sharing website. I could spend hours looking at these old photos. Below are some of the more striking pictures which stirred people to action to save the environment.
These are pictures that launched an environmental movement, a movement which seems to have foundered, if this depressing poll is indication. Come on, people - this is the only planet we have.
These are pictures that launched an environmental movement, a movement which seems to have foundered, if this depressing poll is indication. Come on, people - this is the only planet we have.
The Crying Indian Commercial
The 1970s' environmental movement also led to the creation of the iconic "crying Indian" commercial which sought to raise awareness of the toll pollution was taking on our environment. The American Indian in the commercial was Iron Eyes Cody, who claimed Cherokee-Cree ancestry, and was a huge supporter of Indian rights, and was in more than two hundred movies (learn more about him HERE). This commercial defined the early environmental movement in the 1970s.
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