Years ago people did as they pleased,
With no threat of having their cash seized.
  Factories with smokestacks
  Could pump smog to the max
Without worry if somebody sneezed.

But we soon reached the realization
That our industry needs regulation.
  And so we could assure
  That our air would be pure
We passed parcels of new legislation.

There were limits on chemical waste
And carcinogens sent into space
  We had proven with science
  That we needed compliance,
Due to atmosphere problems we faced.

This first seemed like a perfect solution
For eliminating all pollution
  Industries would be forced
  To the plans thus endorsed
Or else pay with a large contribution.

But years later things still weren't ideal
And the problems were getting more real.
  By Nineteen-seventy
  It was easy to see
Need for environmental appeal.

So the EPA was firmly founded,
And groups like Greenpeace soon abounded.
  We invented Earth Day
  In a similar way
To make sure the intent stayed well-grounded.

The Clean Air Act was passed, which soon led
To more laws that saved water instead.
  And pollution decreased
  As these acts were policed
Because care was in everyone's head.

We're now told every day since our birth
That we have to take care of the Earth.
  But lately people ask
  If this arduous task
Might just be more trouble than it's worth.

The need for our concern has abated,
Since protection laws have been created.
  Air and water are cleaner,
  The forests are greener,
And less oil shipments are ill-fated.

Earth Day interest has sharply declined,
As the worries have left people's mind.
  There is more apathy,
  Now that people can see
That our planet is doing just fine.

And the environmental reports
Haven't all been the most correct sorts.
  Prophecies of destruction
  Have led to a reduction
In believing what green folks exhort.

This is not to imply we ignore
What the future perchance holds in store.
  We care to great extent
  For our environment
But we value reality more.