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Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, which started around 1750 in Great Britain, really began to gain momentum in the US around 1820. While it was the cause of a great many innovations that make life easier and safer, it also marks the beginning of a the current era of pollution, thanks to urbanization and factory emissions. -
Sierra Club founded
John Muir founded the Sierra Club, which was dedicated to preserving the American wilderness -
First National Forest
Shoshone National Forest, part of Yellowstone Park, became the first protected forest in 1892 -
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AP Environmentla Science
History of Environmental science and legislature -
Roosevelt
Over the Course of his presidency, Roosevelt set aside more than 17 million acres of land for federal protection. He established Yellowstone, Tongass National Forest, and Pelican Island -
Reclamation Act
The Reclamation Act was intended to help farmers settle and cultivate the arid Western US -
Lacey Act
The Lacey Act gave the President the power to create national monuments.This was a far simpler process than appealing to Congress to create a national park. The Lacey Act is more commonly known as the Antiquities Act. The Grand Canyon was the first monument protected by the Lacey Act -
Conservation Conference
In 1908, Teddy Roosevelt called the firstr conservation conference. It was attended by governors, Supreme Court justices, and cainet members -
Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Tennessee Valley Authority as a way for the government to hire unemployed workers during the Great Depression. These workers were tasked with restoring landscapes, forests, and soil. -
Silent Spring
After 30 years of stagnation, Rachel Carson published the book Silent Spring. This book brought public attention to the effects of chemicals like DDT on the environment. It returned such concerns to the forefront of American awareness. -
Wilderness Act
The Wilderness Act legally defined wilderness, and ensured the protection of 9 million acres of land. Wildnerness was defined as an area untouched by man, where man visits but doesn't stay -
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club's membership grew to 55,000, and the world began to fight for the environment. Congress was persuaded not to dam the Grand Canyon and California began to combat smog. -
National Environmental Policy Act
NEPA had three main parts:It states our national environmental goals, established ways for the government to enforce these goals, and established the executive Council on Environmental Quality -
Santa Barbara Oil Spill
Occuring in the waters around Southern California, this was the largest oil spill the US had ever seen at the time, Around 80,000-100,000 barrels where spilled into the Pacific Ocean and thousands of marine animals were killed. The spill prompted a rush of environmental legislature. -
Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act regulates all emissions from either factories or vehicles. It developed national standards for air quality and required many states to clean up their air. -
Earth Day
Gaylord Nelson and Pete McCloskey help establish Earth Day, to annually raise awareness about the environment -
EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created by Richard Nixon in 1970. It was to be in charge of protecting the American people from health issues due to pollution, as well as to protect the environment from abuse. -
Sierra Club v Morton
Gave any individual the right to sue for destruction of the environment by the government that affected them recreationally, aesthetically, or physically -
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act was passed by Richared Nixon in 1972. It's main function was to regulate the pollution that could be dumped into US bodies of water. It also determined a minimum water quality for all surface water -
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act gave federal protection to any species that faced extincting due to economic growth. It also protected the ecosystems in which the species lived. These areas were placed off limits to development. -
Love Canal
Love Canal was an neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York. Due to the large amounts of toxic waste buried beneath it, inhabitants experience major health problems and defects, including an unusually high number of miscarriages. The area has since been evacuated. -
Omnibus Parks Act
This was a large bill with many environmental provisions rolled into one. It made it easier to declare an area a national park and improved their management, among other things -
Three Mile Island
Refers to a partial nuclear meltdown in Pennsylvania , which is still considered the worst disaser in commcercial US nuclear history. -
Jimmy Carter Solar Panels
Jimmy Carter installed 32 solar panels onto the roof of the White House to demonstrate his support for green technology -
Department of Energy
In 1979, Jimmy Carter created the Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE was formed to regulate nuclear power in the United States and ensure the safety of its inhabitants. -
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was elected President immediately after the very unpopular Jimmy Carter. He essentially ran on a platform of being the opposite of Carter. As a result, he deregulated the enivornment enormously, and he immediately took down Carter's solar panels. -
Exxon Valdez
Oil tanker that spilled hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil off the coast of Alaska. Thousands of miles of ocean and Alaskan coast were affected. Local marine population (which include salmon and seals) collapsed, Fishing and recreation were also attacked. -
Salvage Logging Rider
Signed by Bill Clinton in 1995, this rider opened up thousands of acres of forests for logging, without the usual environmental controls. This was especially unfortunate because Clinton was expected to be a green president. -
Clinton
In his second term, Clinton turned to the environment, He urged the EPA to force power plants to install pollution control equipment and he established the Sequoia National Monument. His most important piece of environmental legislature required SUVs to meet the same standards as cars. -
Kyoto Protocol Treaty
The Kyoto Protocol Treaty went into effect in 2005 under President George W. Bush. It set obligations on industrialized countres to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases. -
Barack Obama
Barack Obama became President at a time of economic uncertainty, so he has not devoted much time to the environment. Most of his environmental work has been granting money for research, cleanup, or maintenance of environmental structures. Unfortunately, he also opened the door for off shore drilling.
