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John Muir - Born April 21, 1838
Muir was a naturalist that helped to preserve Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. He also the founder of the Sierra Club which is now one of the most important conservation organizations in the United States. -
Sierra Club Founded
This organization is one of the oldest, largest and most influential environmental affiliations in the United States. This organization was founded by John Muir. -
Lacey Act Founded
Protects the environment by administering civil and criminal penalties for various violations of plant life and wildlife. -
Aldo Leopold
Aldo had an influence in modern environmental ethics and wilderness conservation. His ethics of nature and wildlife preservation had a profound impact on the environmental movement -
Silent Spring By Rachel Carson
A book that is widely credited for starting the American environmental movement. The book documented the detrimental effects on the environment—particularly on birds—of the indiscriminate use of pesticides. -
Wilderness Act
Created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States and protected 9.1 million acres of federal land. The Wilderness Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964 after over sixty drafts and eight years of work. -
Clean Air Act
Created for the purpose of protecting human health and the environment by regulations based on laws passed by Congress. Clean air act designed to control air pollution on a national level. -
FIFRA
This is the Federal, Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Control Act. It is a federal law that set up national U.S. pesticide regulations. -
Endangered Species Act
Designed to protect endangered species against species. It was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973 -
OPEC and Oil Embargo
The oil crisis steeply increases the price of oil. Americans begin driving smaller, more fuel efficient cars for the sake of conservation. -
Roland and Molina announce that CFC's are depleting the ozone layer
Chlorofluorocarbons were commonly used as refrigerants, which were depleting the ozone layer They were used heavily until this time. -
Clean Water Act
With the increase of pollutants in the water, the government wanted to do something. So, they created a federal law governing water pollution. -
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
Federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the U.S.They also created offices, whose so purpose was to promulgate regulations, to fund state regulatory and reclamation efforts, and to ensure consistency among state regulatory programs. -
Love Canal, NY
Growing population in the Niagara Falls area of NY, demanded land for new schools. The land purchased was used to dispose of toxic waste which would eventually leak in to residential homes. -
Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident
A partial nuclear meltdown occurred. Small amounts of radioactive gases and iodine were released into the atmosphere. -
Bhopal, Island
A gas leak from a pesticide plant in India is responsible for up to 16,000 gas related deaths. -
Chernobyl
Worst nuclear power plant breakdown in history. Blamed for 31 immediate deaths. Land deemed unlivable for the next 20,000 years. -
CERCLA (Superfund)
Acronym stands for Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act. A federal law that is designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous material. -
Montreal Protocol
Montreal decided to tke intitiave to save the world. They created an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer. -
Exxon Valdez
Oil spill that occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Between 260,000 and 750,000 oil barrels were leaked into the ocean. It is considered to one of the most devastating environmental disasters caused by humans. -
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Kyoto Protocol
Like Montreal, more initiative had to be taken, this time by Kyoto. An international treaty that sets obligations on industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. -
BP Oil Spill
It is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry; it occured in the Gulf of Mexico. 16,000 total miles of coastline have been affected, including the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. -
Nuclear Power in Japan
The 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused the failure of cooling systems at the Japanese power plant. This was the first time a nuclear emergency had been declared in Japan, and 140,000 residents within 20 km of the plant were evacuated.
