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Yellowstone Act
Congress passed the Yellowstone Act, making Yellowstone the first national park "dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people" and "for the preservation, from injury or spoilation, of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders. . . and their retention in their natural condition." -
Burton Act
Congress passed the Burton Act, which preserved Niagara Falls from hydroelectric power facilities. -
National Parks Service
National Park Service: Big Bend
Congress established the National Park Service. Today there are approximately 400 national parks across America, comprising approximately 4% of the entire U.S., or 84.6 billion acres of preserved
land. -
New York v. New Jersey
New York v. New Jersey and Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners: New York sued New Jersey commissioners to stop dumping sewage in the New York harbor. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of New Jersey, and the dumping continued. -
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City was the first U.S. city to conduct a large scale survey of air pollution. -
Emergency Conservation Work Act
As part of his New Deal plan during the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt asked Congress to pass the Emergency Conservation Work Act. Under the Act, thousands of unemployed young men were recruited into a “peacetime army” called the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), also known as “Roosevelt’s tree army.” Their job was to protect against erosion and the destruction of natural resources. CCC camps existed in every state. -
1st Ethanol Plant
The first ethanol plant opened in Atchison, KS. The biofuel brand, Agrol, was sold throughout the Midwest with the slogan, “Try a tankful—you’ll be thankful.” -
Everglades
President Truman established Everglades National Park. Just prior to the park’s designation, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas published The Everglades: River of Grass. -
Silent Spring
Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, which warned about the dangers of pesticides, especially DDT, to water supplies and wildlife. The federal government outlawed the use of pesticides like DDT several years later. -
Clean Air Act
Congress passed the first Clean Air Act, which regulated air pollution and emissions. -
National Wilderness Preservation System
Congress passed the Wilderness Act, establishing the National Wilderness Preservation System to “secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness.” By 2001, there were 90 million acres of preserved wilderness in the U.S. -
Sierra Club v. Morton
Sierra Club v. Morton: The Sierra Club sued Morton to stop the building of Mineral King near Sequoia National Park. Questions arose over Sierra Club’s legal standing—they personally were not impacted by the building of Mineral King, so did they have the right to file suit? The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Sierra Club could file suit only if any one of its individual members were impacted by the building of Mineral King. -
NASA Blue Marble
NASA released the “Blue Marble” photo of earth from space, giving Americans a first ‘outside’ look at their planet. The photo helped raise awareness of environmental issues. -
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act passed by Congress and President Johnson to protect waterways from pollution, commercialization, and development. -
National Environmental Policy Act
The National Environmental Policy Act was one of the first laws to establish the broad national framework for protecting the environment. The Act demanded that all braches of government give proper consideration to the environment prior to building airports, buildings, military complexes, highways, parks, and other activities. -
First Earth Day
The first Earth Day was celebrated by 20 million people across the country. Earth Day was first organized by Gaylord Nelson, a former Wisconsin senator, and Denis Hayes, a Harvard graduate
student. Today, Earth Day is celebrated annually around the world. -
Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency was established to “create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony.” -
Endangered Species Act
Congress passed the Endangered Species Act to protect what are now known as Endangered Species from possible extinction. -
Safe Drinking Water Act
Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act to be administered by the EPA, protecting Americans from contaminated drinking water. The EPA still regulates public drinking water as a result of the act. -
NASA
NASA warned Congress of the effects of global warming. -
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
The Exxon Valdez oil spill dumped 11 million gallons of oil, devastating Prince William Sound off the coast of Alaska, and images of oil-soaked ocean life flood American homes. Spill results in Exxon v. Baker. -
Oil Pollution Act
The Oil Pollution Act streamlined the EPA’s ability to prevent and clean up catastrophic oil spills. -
Convention on Climate Change and the Earth Charter
The Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, resulting in the signing of the Convention on Climate Change and the Earth Charter, a global pledge to control global warming. -
Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol implemented as countries around the world pledged to reduce the emission of gasses that contribute to global warming. -
An Inconvenient Truth
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore released An Inconvenient Truth, and the following year, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to raise awareness about global warming. -
