13 Most Ridiculous Predictions Made on Earth Day, 1970

Ricochet ^ | 4/21/2017 | Jon Gabriel

[freedumb2003]

Saturday is Earth Day — an annual event first launched on April 22, 1970. The inaugural festivities (organized in part by then hippie and now convicted murderer Ira Einhorn) predicted death, destruction and disease unless we did exactly as progressives commanded.

Sound familiar? Behold the coming apocalypse, as predicted on and around Earth Day, 1970:

1. “Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” — Harvard biologist George Wald
2. “We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation.” — Washington University biologist Barry Commoner
3. “Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction.” — New York Times editorial
4. “Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.” — Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich
5. “Most of the people who are going to die in the greatest cataclysm in the history of man have already been born… [By 1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s.” — Paul Ehrlich
6. “It is already too late to avoid mass starvation,” — Denis Hayes, Chief organizer for Earth Day
7. “Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions…. By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.” — North Texas State University professor Peter Gunter
8. “In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution… by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half.” — Life magazine
9. “At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it’s only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable.” — Ecologist Kenneth Watt
10. “Air pollution…is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone.” — Paul Ehrlich
11. “By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate… that there won’t be any more crude oil. You’ll drive up to the pump and say, ‘Fill ‘er up, buddy,’ and he’ll say, ‘I am very sorry, there isn’t any.’” — Ecologist Kenneth Watt
12. “[One] theory assumes that the earth’s cloud cover will continue to thicken as more dust, fumes, and water vapor are belched into the atmosphere by industrial smokestacks and jet planes. Screened from the sun’s heat, the planet will cool, the water vapor will fall and freeze, and a new Ice Age will be born.” — Newsweek magazine
13. “The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.” — Kenneth Watt

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A version of this article was posted in 2014.

[PAR35]

“Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years

I think I may concede that one to them. If you compare now to what we had in the early 60s in America and Europe, civilization does look pretty dead.

[Preachin']

Arlen Specter was Einhorn’s attorney. Specter sure had some infamous connections.

[freedumb2003]

>>“Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years
I think I may concede that one to them.<<

The anti-free speech, pro-fascist protests/riots since Trump was elected pretty much put a lock on it. Civilization has fled.

[truth_seeker]

April 1970 was a few days from the Kent State demonstrations, which left 4 dead.

I can’t say that we have advanced during that period.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

10. “Air pollution…is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone.” — Paul Ehrlich

Probably accurate. In 1975 air pollution was bad, especially from burning coal. Excess mortality due to burning coal was estimated at about 50,000 per year in the United States, by professor of health physics Bernard Cohen, in his 1983 book, “Before It’s Late.” Note, Cohen strongly supported the continued burning of coal, because the effects of poverty were much worse, even in terms of excess mortality. Cohen’s argument was that if we could get the same amount of electricity for the same price as we got from coal (think nuclear) we would save 50,000 lives per year.

[wally_bert]

The project Willys jeep is running but a tad rich maybe.

That’s how I am ignoring erf day or Lenin’s birthday if you prefer.

[ssapro]

I started all the vehicles I own and let them idle for 30 minutes and ran my home air conditioning units for one hour with the windows open to celebrate Erf day.

1968 Corvette 427 no emissions equipment
1977 Corvette 350 no emissions equipment
1979 Chevrolet C10 396 no emissions equipment
1944 Willys MB 134 no emissions equipment

Hooray for Erf day!

[Hardastarboard]

Half of these quotes are Malthusian economics, which was refuted like a hundred years ago. And these are “educated” men.

[MrEdd]

I grew up in the sixties and seventies too, but I mocked them even then.

They used to spout wild claims about how toxic oil was. I played around capped oil wells where I noticed weeds and grass grow up through tar and clouded oil funk just fine. And oil running out? Liquid oil is the proverbial tip of the iceberg. The stuff we are getting through cracking is the submerged body of the iceberg. I grew up in an oil industry family.

If you know part of the agenda is pure hooey then the rest falls apart as well.

[Cuttnhorse]

For later

[SkyDancer]

And then after Earth Day celebrations all those not involved in it will volunteer to pitch in and clean up after them.

[aquila48]

On #7 - ironies of ironies, it’s capitalism that has saved the Chinese and indians from starvation.

Capitalism - the best sustainable system in existence!

[wally_bert]

Quite a collection. I’m impressed.

My old Willys has no emissions either.

I won’t be able to get to my 79 K5 until tomorrow. Some emissions are off and more will come.

If money holds and no disasters, I hope to add an 82 CJ7 with a reman engine to the list of operational stuff.

[ssapro]

Thanks. I didn’t bother starting the 2004 Yukon or the 2009 Honda Goldwing since they’re both emissions compliant. I have two 48 CJ-2A’s and a 42 GPW that I haven’t started restoring. Way too many projects.

[Skooz]

Bfl

[txrefugee]

This morning, one brave university professor,branded a “climate change skeptic” by the Leftist loudmouths on CNN’s New Day show, made some excellent points about CO2 being harmless water vapor. Opposite him, filibustering with all the climate change garbage, was Bill Nye, the laughable “science guy.” It is obvious that they are dead wrong about their alarmist predictions that have obviously been worthless, but it is their religion, it takes the place of God in their empty lives, and they will never admit their ignorance.
However, we who are sane should not be forced to pay for their religion. Pres. Trump should withdraw the USA from the ruinous climate change treaty signed in Paris by Obama’s feckless administration.

[rlmorel]

Excellent! Charlton Heston speaking, and speaking the truth...two separate things on their own that could cause liberal heads to explode!

[SaveFerris]

[Where are these “experts” today????]

They all froze to death. Or starved. Or ran out of gas.

The science is settled.

[SaveFerris]

Wow that guy was just a major idiot. Last scam was selling Obama’s “healthcare”. What a jerk.

[SaveFerris]

Gee, and he looked like such a nice fella, too....