A Time of Change

The 1960's were a time of tremendous change for the United States. Inspired by the seemingly needless bloodshed of the Vietnam War and changing social attitudes towards equal rights, American citizens, many of them college students, began to adopt a new outlook on the environment. The preservation of our natural surroundings and resources, a topic that had long been largely ignored save for a select few, became a major issue of concern. It's fitting then that at this particular time a group of individuals drawing from a number of diverse backgrounds came together to protect the Hudson River Valley from Con Edison, a massive electric company with it's sights set on Storm King Mountain.

Con-Ed had long had it's eyes on the hillside of Storm King Mountain as the ideal location for it's state-of-the-art hydroelectric facility that would draw water from the Hudson and use it to power customers throughout the Hudson Valley. Just as today big business has dubious connections with the Federal Government, Con Edison usually had little trouble obtaining the necessary paperwork to construct facilities throughout the region that would seemingly increase energy efficiency. Yet the executives of Con Edison weren't counting on an American public that had recently been infused with the desire to protect the environment. When the Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference won it's first major victory in 1965 when a Circuit Court acknowledged the public benefit of Storm King Mountain, environmental organizations across the country began to gain confidence in their ability to make an impact. Scenic Hudson would eventually force Con-Ed to abandon the project, and has since gained thousands of donors on it's way to establishing an annual budget of upwards of $5,000,000. The legacy of Scenic Hudson's battle with Con-Ed is immeasurable; not only was Storm King Mountain preserved, but Americans were starting to believe they could stand up to bigger and more powerful organizations, an attitude reflected in the thousands of environmental conservation groups that now exist across the United States. And to think, what was realized on the banks of the Hudson changed the fate of the country. History repeats itself once more.