DEAR EDITOR:

On the first Earth Day April 22, 1970, the environment was in sad shape. Cuyahoga River had caught fire; Mahoning River declared “dead,” as candidate for the nation’s most polluted river. On a “clear” day, the sun emerged 30 degrees above the eastern horizon and faded into the afternoon smog 30 degrees above the western horizon. Smog often blanketed large areas, contributing to thousands of deaths. Love Canal, a subsequent Superfund site, received chemical wastes from Hooker Chemical Co. causing leukemia and illnesses. Mercury accumulated in tissues of fish, exceeding safe levels for human consumption. Pesticide-induced thinning of bird eggshells threatened many species. The phenomenon of bioamplification concentrated the seemingly innocuous application of pesticides to toxic levels, prompting Rachael Carson’s “Silent Spring,” 1970s environmental movement’s seminal book.

Nationwide, environmental protests were led mainly by young people. Our federal government responded. In short order, the “Clean Water Act,” “Clean Air Act,” “Endangered Species Act,” and Nixon administration created the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, charged with administration of federal environmental statutes.

Environmental laws of the 1970s were remarkably successful in reversing pollution’s most egregious effects. However, now that lofty environmental vision has faded, and youthful ideals spawning heady successes of the 1980s seem tarnished and outdated.

The existential environmental crisis from climate heating makes 1970s environmental problems pale by comparison. The most recent special report of the International Panel of Climate Change shortened the time for reversing increases in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations to just three years. Each IPCC report since 1990, reported climate warming is more rapid than previously predicted; time to act to prevent irreversible adverse environmental impacts is shorter. Time lags between cause and effect and positive feedback loops triggered by tipping points constrains our ability to effectively respond to climate heating. Does our nation yet have the vision and will to meet today’s environmental challenge with the same success of the 1970s?

The environmental abuses of the 1970s were readily apparent; rivers without life, tons of algae washing up on Lake Erie shores, fish kills requiring bulldozers to bury decaying masses and air pollution you could smell and taste.

Climate heating is more nuanced. After all, we are talking about only a few degrees of annual fluctuations. Even among informed contemporaries, there is reluctance to acknowledge needs for immediate, consequential actions. This contrasts virtually unanimous judgment of climate scientists who have studied climate heating issues. We do have time to act, but the time is now.

A half-century ago, we had political leadership, determination, vision and knowledge to meet environmental challenges. Do we have the same political leadership and willpower to complete today’s more daunting environmental mission?

LAUREN SCHROEDER

Polan