Nature's Past: Part 4 - The Environmental Movement, Part II

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The environmental movement is one of the most popular topics in Canadian environmental history. At present, the environmental movement in Canada is at a bit of a crossroads. Having finally moved beyond simply outlining worst practices and their consequences, the last decade has witnessed proactive solutions and workable alternatives to every kind of environmental problem. Yet, this comes at the same time as economic turmoil and ideological opposition from government. Recently, David Suzuki has even gone so far as to argue that “Environmentalism has failed.” Given this crossroads, environmental historians offer the context needed to understand the state of the environmental movement in this country today.

On this second part of our look at the history of the environmental movement in Canada we speak with a group of leading environmental historians, including Jonathan Clapperton, Frank Zelko, Ryan O'Connor, and Mark McLaughlin about the origins of the movement and its transformations since the end of the Second World War.

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Suggested Readings

• Dale, Stephen. McLuhan’s Children: The Greenpeace Message and the Media. Toronto: Between the Lines, 1996.
• Elton, Sarah. “Green Power.” University of Toronto Magazine, Winter 1999
• Emond, D. Paul. “‘Are We There Yet?’ Reflections on the Success of the Environmental Law Movement in Ontario.” Osgoode Hall Law Journal Vol.46, No.2 (Summer 2008), pp. 219-242.
• Keeling, Arn. “Sink or Swim: Water Pollution and Environmental Politics in Vancouver, 1889-1975.” BC Studies Vol.142/143 (2004), pp. 69-101.
• Keeling, Arn and John Sandlos. “Environmental Justice Goes Underground? Historical Notes from Canada’s Mining Frontier.” Environmental Justice Vol.2, No.3 (2009): 117-125.
• Killan, Gerald, and George Warecki. “The Algonquin Wildlands League and the Emergence of Environmental Politics in Ontario, 1965-1974” Environmental History Review Vol.16, No.4 (Winter 1992), pp.1-27.
• McLaughlin, Mark J. “Green Shoots: Aerial Insecticide Spraying and the Growth of Environmental Consciousness in New Brunswick, 1952-1973.” Acadiensis Vol.40, No.1 (Winter/Spring 2011), pp. 3-23.
• Mutton, Don. “Dispelling the Myths of the Acid Rain Story.” Environment Vol.40, No.6 (July-Aug 1998), pp.4-34.
• Paehlke, Robert. “Eco-History: Two Waves in the Evolution of Environmentalism.” Alternatives Vol.19, No.1 (1992), pp.18-23.
• Read, Jennifer. “'Let us heed the voice of youth': Laundry Detergents, Phosphates and the Emergence of the Environmental Movement in Ontario.” Journal of the Canadian Historical Association Vol.7 (1996), pp.227-250.
• Suzuki, David. “The Fundamental Failure of Environmentalism” David Suzuki Foundation Blog. May 3, 2012.
• Van Huizen, Philip. “‘Panic Park’: Environmental Protest and the Politics of Parks in British Columbia’s Skagit Valley.” BC Studies Vol.170 (Summer 2011), pp.67-92.
• Warecki, George M. Protecting Ontario’s Wilderness: A History of Changing Ideas and Preservation Politics, 1927-1973. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2000.
• Zelko, Frank S. “Making Greenpeace: The Development of Direct Action Environmentalism in British Columbia,” BC Studies, Special Double Issue “On the Environment”, Vol.142/143 (Summer/Autumn 2004), pp.197-239.
• Zelko, Frank S. Make it a Greenpeace! The Rise of Countercultural Environmentalism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

 

 

© Nature's Past: A Podcast of the Network in Canadian History & Environment by Sean Kheraj is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 Canada License. Based on a work at niche-canada.org.