7:103:15:40:07

        That is how many years, days, hours, minutes, and seconds we had left on September 20th, 2020 to make a change in our ways and how we treat the earth before the effects of global warming become irreversible (Moynihan). That countdown, displayed on One Union Square South during Climate Week in late September of 2020,  began an utter panic amongst people around the world, forcing us to rethink how we live, the impact our everyday lives have on the earth, and just how important it is for us to enter lives of environmental conservation in attempt to save Mother Nature before the beautiful planet we call home surpasses the 1.5°C global warming threshold. 

        According to William Bradford as he arrived on the Mayflower in 1620, the wildlife covering America could be described as nothing more than “hideous and desolate wilderness,” eagerly waiting to be colonized and transformed into a land of wealth and opportunity (Edmondson). Hunters, loggers, and farmers began to be known as the “pirates of the forest,” ridding land of trees and wildlife and becoming the heroes of the new world. In the late 1800s as New York rapidly industrialized, many flocked to the state to utilize canals and the rich shoreline to create massive industries such as the Robert Graves Company, the William Ulmer Brewery, and the Havemeyer & Elder refinery. Not thinking twice about the environment, mainly due to the lack of scientific knowledge and research concerning emissions and pollution at the time, people ran after the opportunity to become rich, expanding their capital and looking for the easiest way to make as much money as possible. Unfortunately, the easiest way to do so meant using harmful fossil fuels, dumping waste into waterways, and depleting natural resources. The Industrial Revolution boomed, increasing manufacturing, transportation development, and slowly creating the United States we see today. 

        While the majority of Americans enjoyed the prosperity and growth of the Industrial Revolution, scientists such as George Perkins Marsh and Charles Darwin introduced ideas into the harsh reality that nature is not an untouchable beast that can never be destroyed, that “human activity can inflict permanent damage on a landscape … and that changing one part of nature might change it all” (Edmondson). Over the decade following Marsh and Darwin’s publications in Man and Nature and On the Origin of Species respectively, alarms were sounded that environmental conservation became an urgent matter, sparking reforms and change that continue today to try and reverse our harmful impact on the planet. 

         The sudden rise in environmental conservation in New York can be credited to the development of nuclear weapons in the 1950s, natural science advancements regarding pollution, as well as images from the Apollo space program that shed light on the fragile state of the Earth (Edmondson). As more information emerged about the sources of pollution and possible impacts on humans, the public became more aware of their actions and decided something needed to be done, not only for their own health and safety, but for the safety of the planet (Department of Conservation). Under Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in 1970 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation was created and the first steps towards conserving the state began. The first steps of the DEC were to attack industrial emissions, more specifically volatile organic compounds and mercury that were emitted by factories burning coal and other fossil fuels. By regulating emissions, the government has not only been able to clean the air, but also protect ecosystems and important water sources from being contaminated and possibly destroyed. Since the signing of the legislation creating the DEC, New York has been able to protect and preserve 1.5 million acres of open space for future generations (Department of Environmental Conservation). In addition to regulating emissions, banning hydraulic fracturing has been an extremely important act. Hydraulic fracturing – harvesting natural gas by “blasting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals deep into the earth” – has been known to pollute both the water and air despite its reputation for being a clean fuel alternative (Keegan). Although some may argue that banning fracking would eliminate the significant creation of jobs and money from both construction and long-term operations, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the ban on fracking would not only “protect the environment and public health,” but also create new job opportunities through 76West and Southern Tier Soaring, programs designed as ways for companies to compete by building clean energy resources. 

         Although New York has been known for poor air quality among a number of other growing problems, the government and public have taken significant strides to slow global warming and protect the health and safety of its citizens. New York is home to more than 100 non-governmental organizations that focus on environmental protection, including the United Nations, the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, the Green Party, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. As seen by the countdown clock displayed all over in significant places such as the Gasometer in Berlin, Germany and One Union Square in Manhattan, the world has less than a decade before we’ve released too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for climate change to be slowed. Environmental conservation has come a long way, moving further from “strip[ping] the earth bare with little regard for the future” and closer to permanent changes that would see earth live on for many years to come.