Transcript-1 (39)

.pdf

School

Kent State University *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

22070

Subject

History

Date

Oct 30, 2023

Type

pdf

Pages

Uploaded by MajorHummingbirdMaster1100 on coursehero.com

Slide 1 Environmentalism In U.S. environmental history While environmental history is not ONLY the history of environmentalism, this movement certainly plays a role in understanding Americans’ interactions with their environment.

Slide 2 Early laws and concerns: 1940s and ‘50s » Water Pollution: FWPCA (1948) » Smog deaths lead to increased concerns about air pollution » Identifying DDT impacts on butterflies » Air Pollution Control Act (1955) Pittsburgh, mid-day, 1944 The environmental movement in the U.S. began slowly, primarily as a reaction to what could be SEEN rather than the more nuanced environmental problems we think (and debate) about now. The first real environmental legislation in the U.S. dates back to 1948 with federal laws about water pollution. This law recognized the challenge of regulating a common resource like water at the city or state level. By dealing with this at the national level, the first steps were taken in preventing those upriver from contaminating everyone (and everything) downstream. The issue of smog was also a concern in early years, as episodes of smog killed more than 100 people and darkened skies. Paul Elrich who would go on to write “The Population Bomb”, was the first to draw attention to the effect of the pesticide DDT and its impact on butterflies in the 1950s. Image source: New York Times/Walter Stein/AP

Slide 3 Growing attention: 1960s » Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring draws attention to pesticides, especially DDT (1962) » The Quiet Crisis by Steward Udall (1963) » Clean Air Act (1963): study/cleanup/ federal control over interstate air pollution » Water Quality Act: federal control over water quality (1965) » First car emission standards 1965 » First endangered species law passed (1966) » Cuyahoga River catches on fire (again) in 1969 3 It was Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring”, though, that is seen as a key turning point in American attention not just about the impacts of DDT and pesticides, but more broadly to the impact of human activities on the environment, and disinformation campaigns by those who profit from these activities. Other books followed, and then a cascade of pollution control laws, including the Clean Air Act and the Water Quality Act, both of which created greater control by the federal government over these common resources. This was followed by the Endangered Species Act, which required federal agencies to prevent species from becoming extinct. Image Source: American Eagle Foundation

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version