GENERAL-CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ENVIRONMEN TAL MOVEMENT

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) summarized a new environm ental ethic for the government of the United States. it represents a s hift in the weight of decision making from short-term economic goals t o long-term environmental and economic goals. it is a very ambiguous d ocument which did not assign clear responsibility for its implementati on. In retrospect we can see that this legislation and the implementat ion of NEPA were influenced by two powerful social movements in the US : the Civil rights movement and protest against the war in Viet Nam. T he environmental movement in the US was and is a popular movement of t he people to force the government to live up to its responsibility to protect the environment of its citizens from the actions of the privat e sector, It advanced thanks to the effects of many private citizens, scientists, lawyers, non government organizations and the executive, l egislative and judicial branches of the federal government.