Environmental Policies Of The United States

What really caused the sudden upsurge in concern for preserving America’s environment at the beginning of the twentieth century? To what extent was this concern motivated by nostalgia for an older America, and to what extent by a desire to preserve nature and natural resources for future generations?

The environmentalist movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries presents a picture of America at the time: torn between the desires to expand while seeking to protect nature. Although all members of the movement sought to protect nature, there were two predominant schools as to how to go about this. In their two philosophies, they created two methods for human interaction with the wilderness. The conservationist movement can be called the utilitarian movement, and sought the greatest good for the greatest number over the longest term. In contrast, the preservationist school aimed at keeping nature in its current state, although the

-The EPA is all about helping and protecting nature and our selves, they have passed many laws to keep us safe. Some of these laws include: C.A.A., or the Clean Air Act. This is a Federal law they passed to make sure we’re not releasing too much emission into the air, or releasing really bad things. Another law they have passed is the C.W.A., or Clean Water Act, this is also a Federal law, it protects our water systems from getting infested with pollution and toxic chemicals, without this we could lose our fishing

“American seemed to think nothing of remarking nature for the sake of progress”, Alexis de Tocqueville, a French diplomat commented when he was visiting the United States in 1831. While the American people were overwhelmed by pride and pleasure from their achievement in making industrial and economic progress, the environment was harmed in an alarming speed. Landscape was transformed, and forests were destroyed due to industrialization. By 1990, only a fraction of the United States Virgin forests were still standing. Farmers cleared trees to plant crops, and loggers cut down large areas of woodland for business profits. More than that, the most horrific thing was the government was willing to encourage loggers to exploit the forests resources by selling them large plots of land in the North West. In other words, the government was inviting loggers to destroy the landscape. Besides the loss of forests, the increasing number of ranching boosted the erosion of landscape. Crops were

The history of the world seldom includes the impact of human conquest upon the environment. Human’s consistently ravage the land and waters around them taking what is considered useful to mankind with reckless abandon. This continued mentality leaves the world in a damaged state unfit for life of any kind. The town of Picher Oklahoma mirrors the legacy of total human consumption at the cost of the land.

Since the Gilded Age when industries became more powerful, the United States has been one of the countries with the biggest effects on nature. The levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have increased radically and are already affecting the Antarctic, our seaboards, and our climate. Even with the evidence provided by the scientists documenting

The environmental protection agency has been stepping up its mandate of ensuring safer and better environment for not only the business operators, buts also the society as a whole. In order to achieve this goal of environmental protection, there has been the creation of environmental protection agency that has ensured that all the businesses, irrespective of their size and type, strive to ensure that the environment is protected for the benefit of current and future generations.

In the first two centuries of U.S. history was a widespread environmental destruction. In the 19th century there were four people who played a key role in protecting the environment; Henry Thoreau, John Audubon, George Marsh, and President Theodore Roosevelt. The modern environmental movement was in the 19th century Europe and North America as they exposed the cost of environmental negligence. Rachel Carson a Marie Biologist wrote a book in the 1960’s

In the 1970’s there was growing confusion regarding environmental policy due to certain states creating environmental protection laws which were largely ineffective. To ease confusion, fix national guidelines, and monitor and enforce them President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA functions under three federal departments: the Interior, Agriculture, and Health, Education and Welfare departments. The original role of the EPA was to administrate the Clean Air Act which was enacted to reduce the air pollution caused by vehicles and industry. The EPA has since grown to enforce at least 12 major statutes such as: ocean dumping laws, safe drinking water, insecticides, and asbestos hazards in

When thinking of the environmental movement in America, it is presumably just thought of as the effects climate change and left-winged ideas, but the history of the movement is much more complex than its current state. As Europeans began colonializing America, the wilderness was a vast and plentiful resource and new settlers quickly conquered new land. As America was created into an industrialized and urbanized nation, debates occurred on what environment of our newfound country should hold. The environmental movement started with conserving and preserving wilderness resources as an American idea, which is shown in the film Simba: King of the Beasts, and shifts to the modern environmental movement were the effects of industrialized American have effects on human health and quality of life shown in the film Blue Vinyl.

Environmental historian William Cronon best described the importance of the interpretive lens of nature and thus the importance of Mark Fiege’s “The Republic of Nature” when he said, “There is nothing in the world- nothing in place or time or history- that is ever outside of nature or the environment” (Cronon XII). Put simply, everything and everyone is a part of nature; the air we breathe, the people we meet, and the decisions we make are all a result of nature silently influencing us and our ancestors at every point. Hence, we cannot exclude this all-encompassing determiner from our minds when examining the past. Author Mark Fiege not only includes the view of nature when examining some of the most important events and advancements in American

We believe that the people of America should be more concerned about the negative impacts in the changes of Earth’s Environment/Human Activity. The positive impacts mostly just benefit us as a society (money, economy, etc.). The negative impacts actually, not only hurt us, but our entire Earth as well. Including other living organisms. While it may not seem like it, what we’re doing now is actually going to hurt us in the future. There’s no point in doing something now to help us currently when later it is going to come back and put us in BIG trouble.

Economic analysis that weighs all costs and benefits of a particular model must include environmental considerations. That is to say, the potential for short-term economic losses caused by conservation in the present, should be measured against the dividends that conservation will pay in the future (Nordhaus, 2007). If the earth is truly our most valuable commodity, then analysis under these conditions should recognize that if a “dollar value” were placed on environmental sustainability, more often than not it would outweigh any initial monetary loss resultant of the implementation of more sustainable practices.

During the late 1700s, many Americans advocated for social justice, economic empowerment, property rights and environmental protection. Their advocacy created a national phenomenon that empowered government and policymakers to execute policies aimed at solving these problems nationwide. The government again took action to enact numerous laws, some of which became the foundation for modern environmental policy and regulations in the United States. “On the national level, the first federal action to respond to public concerns about air quality was the Clean Air Act of 1955” (Longhurst and Lewis 2010, 39).The implementation of some of these newly created environmental laws began to interfere with state regulations, and as such, they often violated citizen’s property rights. Although such policy oftentimes violates citizen rights, it allows government and policymakers to respond to the growing population and market demand. Infringement on property rights did not just take root in the environmental sector in the 1800s. It started as a result of massive construction, inadequate hazardous waste disposal systems, and overpopulation due to urbanization and economic growth in the nineteenth century. It became clear that uncontrolled pollution, including underwater pollutions, led to the spread of environmental disease, thus affecting human health and safety.

Environmental conservation has made major advancements throughout history. While its focus during the 1940s was very limited due to World War II, the effects of the war and industrialization led to the environmental deterioration and many significant events that increased the public’s attention on pollution. While many minor policies were passed as a way to appease the people, the major shift for environmentalism was during the 1960s after many pieces of writing were published that exposed the harmful effects of pollution and toxins that were contaminating the earth. The public’s outrage toward the government 's lack of involvement led to major legislations to be passed and a noticeable shift in importance to the government. While environmental policies were generally weak and unable to be consistently enforced from 1940-2000, a series of focused legislative acts led to a change in the standardization of working conditions through safety and health regulations and accountability of nationally funded programs on conservation of the environment.