ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY + LEGISLATION

Transcription

1 ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY + LEGISLATION

2 Hunter-gatherers survived collecting wild plants and hunting native animals. Generally nomadic. High infant mortality rate short life span (30-40 years). Advanced groups used more advanced tools, converted forests to grasslands, and contributed to the extinction of some large animals. Migration Limited technology Small population Small ecological footprint

3 Agricultural Revolution Shift from nomadic hunting and gathering to a settled community. Farmers provided more food than needed by their own family Towns and villages formed (Urbanization) Increased life span Habitat destruction/sla sh-and-burn Soil erosion and overgrazing Pollution

4 Centralized factories to massproduce goods Improved agricultural technology led to increase in urban population Industrial Revolution Began in England and spread to the United States in the early 1800 s. Shift from renewable resources such as wood and water to nonrenewable fossil fuels. Air pollution Dangerous work conditions

5 Thomas Malthus predicted that exponential population growth would outpace linear food production

6 Early Conservation Era ( ) Henry David Thoreau ( ) wrote Life in the Woods, an environmental classic about his observations of nature for two years in the woods of Massachusetts.

7 Yellowstone designated as America s first national park National Park Service Act 1916

8 Forest Reserve Act Established that federal government was responsible for protecting public lands

9 John Muir founded the Sierra Club in Leader of the preservationist movement. He lobbied for the creation of a national park system and credited for establishing Yosemite National Park in 1890.

10 Lacey Act Protects both plants and wildlife by creating civil and criminal penalties for a wide array of violations Prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, transported or sold.

11 President Theodore Roosevelt established wildlife reserves and tripled the size of national forest reserves. Persuaded Congress to grant the president the power to designate public land as federal wildlife reserves and established the first federal refuge at Pelican Island (1903).

12 Bad farming practices (led to soil depletion) + drought = Dust Bowl

13 Soil Conservation Act It authorized the formation of the National Resource Conservation Service with a mission to work with U.S. citizens to conserve natural resources on private land

14 Atomic Energy Act Established the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to promote the "utilization of atomic energy for peaceful purposes... EPA issues generally applicable environmental radiation standards. Develop guidance for federal and state agencies containing recommendations for their use in developing radiation protection requirements.

15 Aldo Leopold strong proponent of land ethics humans have an ethical responsibility to preserve wild nature A Sand County Almanac, has served as a catalyst to the modern environmental movement. Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf.

16 Green Revolution ( ) Increased yields per unit of area of cropland Involved three steps: developing and planting monocultures of key crops lavishing fertilizer, pesticides and water on crops to produce high yields increasing the intensity and frequency of cropping

17 Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. First discovered In Minamata, Japan When industrial wastewater was dumped in Minamata Bay. Human disease and death occurred when mercury bioaccumulated in the shellfish and fish eaten by the locals.

18 The Modern Environmental Era (began in the 60 s) Rachel Carson published Silent Spring chronicling the affect of DDT on the environment In nature nothing exists alone.

19 Wilderness Act Established National Wilderness Preservation System and defined wilderness. Established protection of wilderness lands from industrial development.

20 Tragedy of the Commons An economic theory published by Garrett Hardin which discusses the depletion of a shared resource by individual s acting in their own self-interest.

21 National Environmental Policy Act One of the first laws ever written that establishes the broad national framework for protecting our environment. NEPA's basic policy is to assure that all branches of government give proper consideration to the environment prior to undertaking any major federal action that significantly affects the environment.

22 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established First Earth Day held April 22 nd.

23 Clean Air Act Federal law that regulates air emissions. This law authorizes EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and the environment. The setting of maximum pollutant standards was coupled with directing the states to develop state implementation plans (SIP's) applicable to appropriate industrial sources in the state.

24 Occupational Safety and Health Act The goal of this legislation was to make sure employers provide their workers a place of employment free from recognized hazards to safety and health. Created the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as the research institution for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA is a division of the U.S. Department of Labor

25 Clean Water Act The Act established the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States. The cornerstone of surface water quality protection in the United States. (The Act does not deal directly with ground water nor with water quantity issues.)

26 Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act Also known as the Ocean Dumping Act, prohibits the dumping of material into the ocean that would unreasonably degrade or endanger human health or the marine environment.

27 Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act provides a program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals and the habitats in which they are found. The law prohibits any action, administrative or real, that results in a "taking" of a listed species, or adversely affects habitat. Likewise, import, export, interstate, and foreign commerce of listed species are all prohibited. Not protected Experimental Endangered

28 CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals.

29 Chemists Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina publish their landmark findings that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) can destroy ozone molecules and may threaten to erode Earth's protective ozone layer.

30 Safe Drinking Water Act Established to protect the quality of drinking water in the U.S. This law focuses on all waters actually or potentially designed for drinking use, whether from above ground or underground sources. Authorized EPA to establish safe standards of purity and required all owners or operators of public water systems to comply with primary (healthrelated) standards.

31 Toxic Substances Control Act Gave EPA the ability to track the 75,000 industrial chemicals currently produced or imported into the United States. EPA can ban the manufacture and import of those chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk.

32 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act RCRA gave EPA the authority to control hazardous waste from the "cradle-to-grave." This includes the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste.

33 Love Canal Incident: A Brief History 1890s - Love felt that by digging a short canal between the upper and lower Niagara Rivers, power could be generated cheaply 1920s - Canal was turned into a municipal and industrial chemical dumpsite Hooker Chemical Company covered the canal with earth and sold it to the city of Niagara Falls for one dollar. 1950s - about 100 homes and a school were built at the site. 1970s Construction of new houses, combined with heavy rainstorms, released the chemical waste, leading to a public health emergency and an urban planning scandal

34 Three Mile Island

35 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund ) CERCLA, commonly known as Superfund, created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided broad federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment.

36 Nuclear Waste Policy Act Supports the use of deep geologic repositories for the safe storage and/or disposal of radioactive waste. Establishes procedures to evaluate and select sites for geologic repositories and for the interaction of state and federal governments. The NWPA assigns the Department of Energy (DOE) the responsibility to site, build, and operate a deep geologic repository for the disposal of high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel.

37 The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.

38 Streamlined and strengthened EPA s ability to prevent and respond to catastrophic oil spills. A trust fund financed by a tax on oil is available to clean up spills when the responsible party is incapable or unwilling to do so. The OPA requires oil storage facilities and vessels to submit to the federal government plans detailing how they will respond to large discharges. Oil Pollution Act

39 Pollution Prevention Act The Pollution Prevention Act focused industry, government, and public attention on reducing the amount of pollution through costeffective changes in production, operation, and raw materials use. Source reduction is fundamentally different and more desirable than waste management or pollution control.

40 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act The primary focus of FIFRA was to provide federal control of pesticide distribution, sale, and use. EPA was given authority under FIFRA not only to study the consequences of pesticide usage but also to require users (farmers, utility companies, and others) to register when purchasing pesticides.

41 Food Quality Protection Act Amended FIFRA and FFDCA. Fundamentally changed the way EPA regulates pesticides. The requirements included a new safety standard-reasonable certainty of no harm-that must be applied to all pesticides used on foods.

42 The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international treaty that sets binding obligations on industrialized countries to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

43 Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, offshore oil-drilling rig. On April 20 th, 2010, an explosion on the rig caused by a blowout killed 11. The resulting fire could not be extinguished for an extended period of time and caused the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.