IN 1972, NEWSWEEK PUBLISHED A COVER story warning the world about the need to clean up the Earth. A little more than 50 years later, some of those warnings are still being issued and ignored.
When the article was first published on June 12, 1972, the environment was at the top of many Americans' minds. The Environmental Protection Agency was not yet two years old, the third Earth Day had just been celebrated, and a slew of federal policies with promises to protect the environment were beginning to take hold. What came next was decades of progress chartered by those early labors.
President Joe Biden has a lofty aspiration of reducing U.S. emissions by up to 52 percent in 2030, achieving a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and a net zero emissions economy by 2050.
However, some experts argue that Biden's goals are only that-aspirational-and that more change is needed if the U.S. hopes to make a real difference.
Some Prioritize Sustainability
A half century ago, experts doubted Americans would be willing to pay more money and disrupt their lives to help save the planet, according to the 1972 Newsweek report. They also wondered if company sustainability efforts would help build brand loyalty.
"Yet even with environmentalism an established fact of American life, many experts are beginning to wonder just how far the public-not business or government-is willing to go," the Newsweek report said. "For whether he likes the notion or not, the consumer will pay the lion's share of the tab for a cleaner environment, either in higher prices, higher taxes or more likely-both."
Time has shown that they needn't have worried on either front: modern Americans are more than willing to change their ways to save the environment.
Bu hikaye Newsweek Europe dergisinin June 14, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Newsweek Europe dergisinin June 14, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout'
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.
Amber Ruffin
A LATE-NIGHT COMEDY SHOW ON CNN? YES, and it's a game show, too.
