(MCT) — WASHINGTON — One Sunday afternoon in 1969 the filthy, oil-coated Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire and quickly became a potent symbol of industrial pollution, helping galvanize public opinion and set the stage for passage of national environmental laws the following decade.

The combination of Hurricane Sandy and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s announcement that he was endorsing President Barack Obama largely because of Obama’s actions on global warming could do the same thing for climate change, say scientists and political observers.