The 1970s saw an increase in all kinds of activism. Gay liberation occurred all over the country, but particularly in areas such as New York's Greenwich Village and San Francisco. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association issued a position statement which held that homosexuality was no longer to be considered a mental illness or psychiatric disorder. The music scene saw the success of the Village People, a group of gay men who hit the pop music charts.

Ralph Nader brought consumerism to the forefront, making him an instant enemy of corporate America, whose products he questioned. There is little doubt that Nader's efforts raised the quality of goods. In 1965, Nader's book Unsafe at Any Speed exposed corruption in the automobile industry, in particular the ability to make cars far safer and the hesitancy to do so. Cesar Chavez, who organized farm workers in the 1960s, continued his struggles for migrant workers and other Hispanics during the next decade. In addition, environmentalists brought their concerns into the spotlight. Conservationists pushed for greater environmental controls, and public service messages supporting the antilittering cause hit the airwaves with the well-known phrase “People start pollution, people can stop it.”

In 1979, the public's concern for the environment grew when an accident occurred at Three Mile Island, the site of a pressurized-water nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A maintenance error and a defective valve led to the loss of coolant. The safety systems seemed to have worked properly but when the emergency cooling system was shut off, a partial core meltdown (with resulting damage) occurred, and a small amount of radioactive gas escaped from the containment building. The financial cost to the utility was substantial, but the public scare was even worse. Legislation was soon enacted requiring the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to adopt far more stringent standards for the design and construction of nuclear power plants, as well as preparation of emergency plans to protect public health and the environment. Several nuclear power plants already under construction were canceled.