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Georgia v. Tennessee Copper Company and Ducktown Sulphur
Georgia filed a law suit against the Tennessee Copper Company and Ducktown Sulphur because they were creating fumes that were harmful to Georgians and the surrounding areas. It was brought up to the US Supreme Court, who ruled in favor of Georgia.
Today, if this process had gone on farther, there could have been more severe side affects. This shows the community that if they think something is causing a major affect on them and the environment around them, not to stay quiet about it. -
Congress Establishes National Park Service
Today there are around 400 national parks in the US. They make up about 4% of the US (84.6 billion acres of land).
We should realize that we were able to save our environment. A while ago, ancestors were using up all the wood and other resources, almost dimineshing our supply completely. This service impacted our environment greatly today by protecting our resources, allowing us to use them today. We need to understand today that we don't have an unlimited supply of resources. -
Emergency Conservation Work Act
During the Great Despression, Congress passed the Emergency Conservation Work Act. This allowed many unemployed men to work for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). They worked to prevent erosion and the destruction of natural resources.
There were so many people unemployed during that time, so President Roosevelt created this "army" to help to environment while helping the economy. This can reflect into today because millions of people are unemployed and we need to improve our environment. -
Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act
Congress passed this act to try and control storms, erosion, land use and conservation from the Dust Bowl. Many acres of prairie land was affect; millions of the Dust Bowl refugees moved away from the prairie lands causing the largest migration of Americans. -
Silent Spring
Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, warned the people about dangers of pesticides like DDT. They polluted the water supply and harmed wildlife. The government made DDT illegal a few years later.
Although we know that pesticides are harmful today, we still choose to use them, but they are still harming the wildlife and the water systems. DDT is now illegal, but the use of many harmful pesticides are still being used. The viewing of the exhibit could help lessen the use of pesticides. -
Clean Air Act
Congress passed the Clean Air Act. This regulated air pollution and emissions.
The government does realize there is a lot of air pollution and is trying to help in the cut back of it. As the people contributing to the pollution and wastes, we should realize the government is trying to help and also do our part of in protecting the environment. Seeing the exhibit would help the people realize the harmful effects and try to contribute in the cut backs. -
Wilderness Act
Congress passed the Wilderness Act, establishing the National Wilderness preservation System to "secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefit of an enduring resource of wilderness."
All around us there are forests that are being preserved and others that are being cut down. Americans need to think before they tear down a bunch of trees for new buildings. Although we have many national forests, we don't want our cities to be completely depleted of trees. -
Water Quality Act
President Johnson created the Water Quality Act. This act strengthened federal water pollution laws and outlined water quality guidelines for states. -
The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
Congress and President Johnson passed this act to protect waterways from pollution, commercialization, and development.
This is act is still around today, but not many people realize that. Many water ways are still polluted today by many sources such as pesticides. Realizing this, and then acting upon it should be something people want to do when seeing this exhibit. -
Blue Marble Photo
NASA shows the "Blue Marable" photo (a picture of earth from space). This gave Americans the first outside view of the world, raises some awareness to environmental issues.
Not everyone can be astronauts, and see the world from an outside appearance. This photo brought the realization to people that we need to take care of Earth. Today, we can get better photos and more information easily about the outside view of Earth. This should motivate us to become more aware of environmental issues. -
The National Environmental Policy Act
This act was one of the first laws made to establish the broad national framework for protecting the environment. Each government branch had to think of the environment before building anything.
This act brings awareness to everything our government and ourselves do. Before we build a house or cut down a tree we need to make sure it doesn't harm the environment. Bringing awareness to this topic is important because many people don't consider their actions before doing something. -
General Motors
President of General Motors, Edward Cole, promised Americans pollution free cars by 1980.
We see this promise back in 1970 and we look today and see everything American's have accomplished. We have pollution free cars, yet many of us don't use them because they require more effort to use. Instead we continue using our polluting cars because it is more convient for us. -
Earth Day
Earth Day is celebrated by 20 million people across the country. It was first organized by Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes. Every year, Earth Day is celebrated around the world.
Earth Day is still celebrated to this day and everyone should know about it so they can celebrate it next time. Celebrating Earth Day is a great way to dedicate to helping Earth for one whole day when so many of us are busy. Earth day is April 22, 2015. -
The Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency was established to "create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony."
Although we are living with nature in harmony, it might not be productive because the way we are living today will cause us to one day run out of resources. We need to find a balance in nature where we can still be using resources in many years. -
Endangered Species Act
Congress passed the Endangered Species Act to protect what are now known as Endangered Species from possible extinction.
There are many animals today that are extinct or close to extinction. Once animals are put onto the endangered list people are aware and try to be more careful with these animals or some are put into captivity to reproduce more. Today, we can't get back to animals that are already extinct, but we can prevent them from disappearing. -
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 wter as a result of the act.
This event is important for our community because it makes us aware that our drinking water is free from contamination. This act passed by Congress ensures that safety of our drinking water supply. -
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
This act was established to provide funds for cleaning hazardous waste sites or other pollutants or contaminants to the environment. The act also gave the EPA power to prosecute polluters.
This brings safety to our environment if there is a hazardous accident the government provides funds to help clean it up. -
Montreal Protocol
The Montreal Protocol, an international treaty, first signed to elminate ozone-depleting hydrocarbons from the environment. It is an example of exceptional international cooperation.
The ozone layer is important for everyone. In our community we need to be aware that hydrocarbons are depleting the ozone and what actions we need to take to prevent this from happening. -
NASA's Warning
NASA warned Congress of the effects of global warming.
In our community we need to be aware that NASA has seen igns of global warming. This affects our community because we need to understand global warming and how we can help to prevent it. People don't understand they can help with the environment and how they effect it. Once they have been informed, it is up the them to use our resources wisely. -
Exxon v. Baker
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.
This accident made us aware of the massive oil spill that happened and the damage it caused the enviroment. It was the home of many wildlife species that died as a result. We need to understand the cause so in the future it can be prevented, the cleanup effort involved, and the effect on the environment. -
The Oil Pollution Act
The Oil Pollution Act streamlined the EPA's ability to prevent and clean up the catastrophic oil spills.
We should know that this oil pollution act was put into effect so that oil companies will have a clean up plan for oil spills. Our community should be aware of this because if a situation arises in our state, that would be how we should take care of the environment. -
The Earth Summit
The Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro resulted in the signing of the Convention on Climate Change and the Earth Charter, a global pledge to control global warming.
This event is important to our community because we need to be aware that global earming is a national issue. Some people might be able to do more about it than others, but we all still need to be aware of it. -
Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol implemented as countried around the world pledged to reduce the emission of gases that contribute to global warming.
We need to be aware of this even tbecause we need to understand that it is necessary to reduce the emission of gases contributing to global warming. This is an issue that affects our community and worldwide. -
New Air Quality Standards
The EPA issued a new standard to control the soot and fine particles of matter that are created everyday. These fine particles that pollute the air come from car exhaust, smokestacks, and coal-fired power plants.
This issue made our commuity aware of the existence of small particles being hazardous to our environment. Controlling these "small hazardous oarticles" will make our community more pollution free. -
Massachusetts v. EPA
Massachusetts filed a suit against the EPA for not establishing green house gases. The EPA argued that the couled regulate individual state issues. The Supreme Court favored with Massachusetts.
With the ability to regulate green house gases state wide we need to be aware that if our community is heavily affected by these gases we can control them within ourself.
