IN THE LATE 1960S, only local protest groups addressed the issue of water and air pollution. Following the report by the Club of Rome in 1972, however, which pointed out that economic growth had to be limited if the environment was to be saved, people became aware of the global dimension of environmental destruction. The conclusion was shocking and simple: economic growth would eventually destroy the earth. Similarly, workers in the big cities felt increasingly alienated by industrialization, pollution, and the building of motorways and ugly suburbs. The fact that hardly any green areas survived in cities led to a certain degree of claustrophobia for many, which left young people longing for a romantic and more humane environment.

As early as the 1970s, the feeling of environmental crisis became stronger, for it was believed that the “Atomstaat” Germany would lead its population to an environmental disaster, if not straight into nuclear war. Following a sharp rise in oil prices after the oil crisis of 1973, the German government looked for other potential sources of energy, and envisaged that in 1985, fifteen percent of the country's energy would come from nuclear power plants. At the same time, other ways of saving energy were discussed and funded by the state.

While the plans for nuclear power plants continued, an increasing feeling of uneasiness emerged. As early as 1956, the Ministry for Nuclear Energy (Atomministerium) had spoken of a “Strahlenangstpsychose.”