January 29, 2024

Pervasive smog in New York City and Los Angeles, the Santa Barbara oil spill, and the Cuyahoga River fires made headlines and frightened Americans across the country.  During the late 1960s, an “environmental crisis” took shape as a series of environmental catastrophes and revelatory books transformed the American environmental consciousness. Soon before the crisis took […]

Donora, Pa., was enveloped in a lethal haze in October of 1948, over five days, nearly half of the town’s 14,000 resident’s experienced severe respiratory or cardiovascular problems. It was difficult to breathe. The death toll rose to nearly 40.  The situation in Donora was extreme, but it reflected a trend. Air pollution had become