Fifty five years ago, on this day, April 21st, 1971, a forum organised by “Resources for the Future” (by “the” they mean “rich white people with guns”),
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 326ppm. As of 2026 it is 428ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The broader context was that MacDonald had been banging on about carbon dioxide for quite some time. Commoner knew what he was talking about. And Glenn Seaborg, as chair of the Atomic Energy Commission, had been aware of carbon dioxide build up for a long time. The first public statement that I’ve been able to find is his commencement address in 1966 at, I want to say UC San Diego, anyway, June ‘66 and there had been other similar announcements, I think he’s quoted in the New York Times in the late 60s. And here he is again on this question.
Also, Fressoz, in “More and More and More” has a section on how much the nuclear guys knew from the early 1950s…
The specific context was that Earth Day has happened, and the Stockholm conference in June of ‘72 is on its way. And therefore everyone is scratching their head about energy and the environment and economic growth.
What I think we can learn from this is that we knew.
What happened next: the energy oil crisis of ‘73 basically put the kibosh on any questions about reducing fossil fuel usage, and here we are,
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
Also on this day:
April 21, 1977 – Australian Parliament debate on Uranium – C02 build up mentioned
April 21, 1992 – President Bush again threatens to boycott Earth Summit
April 21, 1993 – Bill Clinton says US will tackle carbon emissions.