December 2, 1970: The Environmental Protection Agency begins operation. For over half a century, it has -- when the federal government has cared enough to properly fund it -- improved America's land, air and water. And we really needed it.
From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, pollution had been as American as doctoring the baseball, uninspected hot dogs, crabapple pie and a Chevrolet without seat belts. The occasional minor effort had been made before 1970, 2 notable examples being Franklin Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, and Lady Bird Johnson's urging of her husband Lyndon to get Congress to pass the Highway Beautification Act to clean up America's roads (including reducing the number of eyesore billboards).
The 1962 publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson led to President John F. Kennedy putting some of her recommendations in motion. By the late 1960s, environmental activism had become serious. President Richard Nixon figured that out: Signing the EPA into law was not just good policy, it was good politics. He knew that some of the men running against him in 1972 would have run on the environmental issue, and he took it off the table.
Sadly, Carson did not live to see this. Her investigations into pesticides led to her exposure to them, and she was already ill with cancer when the book was published. She was unable to attend most of the ceremonies for the awards she received.
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December 2, 1970 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season, and football was in midweek. There were 4 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Detroit Pistons, 101-82 at Cobo Hall in Detroit. The arena still stands, and is now named the TCF Center.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 114-111 at the Boston Garden. The Celtics overcame 29 points by Wilt Chamberlain.
* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Cincinnati Royals, 119-111 at the Cincinnati Gardens.
* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Atlanta Hawks, 126-112 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. Connie Hawkins scored 32 for the Suns.
There were 3 games played in the American Basketball Association:
* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Pittsburgh Condors, 139-127 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.
* The Memphis Pros beat the Indiana Pacers, 106-100 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis. It still stands, under the name of the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
* And the Utah Stars beat the Virginia Squires, 122-115 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. Zelmo Beaty scored 35 for the Stars, who went on to win the ABA Championship in that 1970-71 season.
And there were 5 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-2 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Montreal Canadiens and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 3-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Los Angeles Kings, 7-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the Chicago Stadium.
* The Minnesota North Stars beat the California Golden Seals, 3-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* And the Detroit Red Wings, the Philadelphia Flyers, and the 2 new expansion teams, the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks, were not scheduled.