Unlikely Environmentalists: Congress And Clean Water, 1945-1972

by Paul Charles Milazzo

Environmental activism has most often been credited to grassroots protesters, but much early progress in environmental protection originated in the halls of Congress. As Paul Milazzo shows, a coterie of unlikely environmentalists placed water quality issues on the national agenda as early as the 1950s and continued to shape governmental policy through the early 1970s, both outpacing public concern and predating the environmental movement.

Milazzo examines a two-decade crusade to clean up the nation's water supply led by development boosters, pork barrel politicians, and the Army Corps of Engineers, all of whom framed threats to the water supply as an economic rather than environmental problem and saw pollution as an inhibitor of regional growth. Showing how the legislative branch acted more assertively than the executive, the book weaves the history of the federal water pollution control program into a broader narrative of political and institutional development, covering all major clean water legislation as well as many other landmark environmental laws.

Milazzo explains how the evolution of Congress's internal structure after World War II, with its standing committees and powerful chairmen, ultimately shaped the scope and substance of important legislative policies. He reveals how Representative John Blatnik of Minnesota, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Rivers and Harbors, shepherded the first permanent water pollution control legislation through Congress in 1956; how Senator Robert Kerr of Oklahoma embraced pollution control to deflect criticism of the public works budget; and how Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine used an unwanted pollution subcommittee chairmanship to create a more viable federal water quality program at a time when few Americans demanded one.

By showing that a much more diverse set of people and interests shaped environmental politics than has generally been supposed, Milazzo deepens our understanding of how Congress took the lead in addressing environmental concerns, like water quality, that ultimately contributed to the expansion of government. His book demonstrates that the rise of the environmental regulatory state ranks as one of the most far-reaching transformations in American government in the modern era.

Genres: History

352 pages, Hardcover

First published September 26, 2006

Reviews

[Søren Warland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd recommend this book for anyone who has an interest on American environmental history, or just political science in general. This is an entirely unexpected story of cooperation between groups you'd least expect to be involved in the early water quality movement. It is a fascinating explanation of political dynamics and how they create unlikely allies.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Environmental activism most often gets credited to grassroots protesters, but much early progress in environmental protection originated in the halls of Congress. Congress placed water quality issues on the national agenda as early as the 1950s to shape governmental policy through the early 1970s; this outpaced public concern and predated the environmental movement. Development boosters, pork barrel politicians, and the Army Corps of Engineers all framed threats to the water supply as an economic (rather than environmental) problem. Pollution inhibited regional growth; the original solution to pollution was dilution. Congress fused “top-down” and “bottom-up” storylines.

The legislative branch was more assertive than the executive with respect to clean water. Representative John Blatnik (MN), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Rivers and Harbors shepherded the first water control legislation through Congress in 1956. Senator Robert Kerr (OK) embraced pollution control to deflect criticism of the public works budget. Senator Edmund Muskie (ME) used an unwanted pollution subcommittee to create a more viable federal water quality program at a time when few Americans demanded one. These acts of Congress contributed to the expansion of government as environmental regulatory state came of age due to a diverse set of people and interests.

There is a revealing discussion about emissions control vs. water quality treatment (post-introducing pollutants into water sources). Although both are still in use, this book charts out when the former became clearly the preferred and more morally responsible option to strive for. Water-front property and values related thereunto are also a telling source of contention at mid-century. The environmental movement--at least in this particular chapter of it about water cleanliness--began as a much more pragmatic rather than idealistic movement.

[Melissa Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting history of the early environmental movement.