Earth Day, Then and Now: Energy

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coal, power, plant, factory, industry, generating, four, corners, new mexico, 1970

Four Corners Generating Plant is still one of America's largest coal-fired generators. Photo: Flickr/The U.S. National Archives

geysers, california, geothermal, energy, plant, 1970, 1970s

1973, energy, crisis, oil, embargo, arab, opec, sorry no gas, sorry no gasoline, sign, gas, station, workers

mod-2, wind, turbine, boeing, nasa, 1970s, 1981, 1980s, first

coal, mining, strip, surface, protest, stop, sign, environmentalist, environmental, 1973,

wind, farm, turbine, turbines, altamont, pass, california

oil, spill, cleanup, alaska, exxon valdez, disaster, volunteers

solar, two, california, power, alternative, energy, renewable, renewables, plant, generator, panel, panels, farm

GE, General, Electric, offshore, wind, farm, turbine, turbines, renewable, energy, alternative, renewables

General, Motors, GM, EV, EV1, electric, vehicle, car, first, 1997

solar, farm, ohio, pseg, panel, panels, energy, power, alternative, renewable, renewables

Today it’s not at all uncommon to notice a neighbor installing solar panels or pass a large-scale wind farm on the freeway. But that wasn’t the case for Earth Day activists in 1970, when crude oil and coal ruled U.S. energy production.

America drew 37 percent of its energy from petroleum and 21 percent from coal in 2010, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Comparatively, about 46 percent of the nation’s energy came from coal in 1970.

Renewable energy provided about 10 percent of total U.S. generation in 2010, compared to less than 1 percent in 1970, according to the most recent EIA data available.

From changes in regulations and advancements in technology to energy crises and grassroots activism, here’s how America has grown in the ways we power up.