Rothman, Hal K. The Greening of a Nation? Environmentalism in the United States Since 1945. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1998.
Hal K. Rothman’s book comprises a collection of short case studies that reflect upon the influence of environmental thought and environmentalism in post-World War II America. Rothman examines both alliances and tensions stemming from Americans increasingly seeking a better “quality of life,” the emerging environmental movement, and concerns over toxics on the one hand and the strain on resources on the other, linked not least to the publication of books such as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb. The narrative is wide ranging, and includes individuals and groups from both civil society and government. It covers, inter alia, events such as the Echo Park Dam controversy during the early 1950s, the impact of Earth Day and the Environmental Protection Agency since their inception in the early 1970s, and the concept of “environmental justice.”
Hal K. Rothman (1958–2007) was Professor of History at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
