The Sierra Club national office in 1969 consisted of one full-time volunteer. Back then, a few activists worked on traditional green issues such as conservation, the protection of wilderness and animals. But none tackled urban ones, such as industrial pollution. There was almost a universal acceptance of unhealthy conditions. High-tech improvements in industrial nations have accompanied the heightened awareness.
More efficient autos produce a fraction of the emissions their counterparts did three decades ago.
Use of alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power has grown exponentially while use of others such as nuclear power have declined. There has been 30 more years of greenhouses gases, species extinctions and population growth. Since 1950, she said, wood consumption has increased twofold, paper use sixfold, fish consumption fivefold, water and grain consumption threefold, and fossil fuel burning fourfold. Additionally, the planet's population has more than doubled from 2.5 billion to 6 billion. Except for a strong resurgence on the 20th anniversary in 1990, Earth Day has for the most part failed to muster the enthusiasm and numbers of 1970.