Read the passage below and choose the correct answer:

Environmentalism began as a movement in the 1960s and 1970s. However, humanity's relationship and dependence on the earth for survival has existed since the beginning of time. Many cultures including Native Americans, Aborigines, Africans and South Americans have understood this interconnection with the natural world. Western cultures had a poor understanding of this relationship as they separated themselves from the land through technology and development. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution caused many changes, Western people realized their behavior had a negative impact on the environment. In the growing industrial cities of London, New York and Chicago, coal burning factories polluted the air and water while the need for lumber to build factories and homes caused mass deforestation and subsequent destruction of animal life.

On a relatively small scale, groups of people were concerned about the future of the environment. Scientists studied ecological systems while others formed clubs and initiated protests. These concerted people became known as conservationists, a predecessor to the modern environmentalist. Some of the earliest protests against pollution and for the conservation of natural resources and wildlife happened in the late nineteenth century.

In the years proceeding World War II, America experienced an economic boom. New technologies introduced atomic energy, synthetic materials and chemicals, such as pesticides, ,which led to advancements in agriculture and consumer products. The booming economy allowed the average family to afford a house, automobile and other amenities at soaring rates. Lands outside of cities were bulldozed for suburban development, new factories emitted more pollution due to the production of more goods and larger numbers of cars discharged additional exhaust; "pollution was the price of economic progress"