In 1969, New York was super polluted, but something important was about to happen. People started worrying about how we were harming the environment in the late 1950s and ’60s. A book called “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson in 1962 told everyone about how pesticides were hurting nature. That got folks fired up, and they formed groups to protect the environment. Then, in December 1970, the government created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help keep our world clean.