This course explores the development of the modern environmental movement and its impact on American politics since the publication of Rachel Carsons landmark study, Silent Spring, in 1962. It also examines the role of the state in creating and enforcing meaningful environmental regulations at a time when people were transitioning from a conservation approach to natural resources to a health or environment-based approach. Topics that will receive particular attention include toxic waste cleanup, river and drinking water regulations, water conservation in the west, agriculture, and the distinct interrelationships between urban and rural environments and their constituencies.
