Environmentalism In The United States

The United States Environmental Protection Agency or EPA was initially proposed in 1970 by then President Richard Nixon. The agency was created to build on other environmental regulations enacted by the federal government and to consolidate those efforts to be managed by one government agency. It was also a reaction to the public’s growing concern over pollution and other environmental issues. Chemical waste was commonly released into bodies of water creating unsafe drinking water and rivers catching fire. Industrial air pollution, such as acid rain and smog, was also affecting manufacturing cities with coal-powered plants. There was little serious regulation on pollution until major environment laws started being passed by Congress in the early sixties.

The 1970’s represent a pivotal point in history that rewrote how America viewed its environmental policies- both on a policymaker and citizen scientist standpoint. As the public became more aware of environmental issues, concern about pollution, improper disposal, dwindling resources, radiation and poisoning enraptured a growing number of supporters. These supporters made it so that unlike the Progressive Era’s conservation movement (1890’s-1920’s), which was mainly elitists, this modern movement was pushed by “the common man.” It was an era that celebrated leaders such as John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas Jefferson. One of those leaders in the forefront of these radical changes was Congressman Morris K.

The inception of U.S. Environmental policy most notably began under the Presidency of Richard Nixon; Nixon oversaw the passage of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and the creation of the Environmental Policy Act (EPA). The Clean Water Act of 1972, in particular, enacted stringent laws to prevent pollutants from entering navigable waters, outlawing open sewers from dumping crud into a local stream and the law also protects land that filters and purifies water as it flows by. The Landmark law passed in 1972, however, has not impeded the pending water crisis facing the U.S. today. The United States must take immediate measures in order to combat the problem; given that the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence now ranks water scarcity as a major threat to national security; right next to Terrorism (Sullivan). The United States should reform the Clean Water Act of 1972 to look for any deficiencies in the law.

Over the past decade a concern for protecting and preserving the environment has developed amongst United States citizens. Citizens have been promoting clean air, clean water, and clean land. Clean air means protecting the public from airborne contaminants known to be hazardous to human health. The Clean Air Act of 1970 is a law designed to control air pollution on a national level. It requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and enforce regulations in order to protect the people (Environmental Protection Agency 2013). Clean water is water which is safe enough to be consumed by humans or used with low risk of harm. The Clean Water Act of 1972 was developed to restore and maintain the chemical, physical,

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

In the United States, These past few years have been rocky with the Environmental Protection Agency otherwise known as the EPA. The “rockiness” stems from multiple factors, particularly surrounding around President Donald Trump’s bias towards business over the protection of the environment.

Comedian Robert Orben joked, “There is so much pollution in the air now that if it weren’t for our lungs there’d be no place to put it all.” As Homer Simpson famously said, this joke is “funny because it’s true.” The pollution of Earth has been going on for decades, but recently scientists have been pushing very hard for practices that do not harm our planet. In 2006, the first Environmental Performance Index (EPI) was published, ranking countries on how well they are protecting Earth with their policies and practices. Who doesn’t love a little competition? One would think America would love a competition, looking at their competitive market economy. But America is not faring well in this environmental competition.

President Richard Nixon officially created the Environmental Protection Agency, otherwise noted as the EPA, in the spring of 1970. However, concern for the environment and its protection began long before the government regulatory body. In years prior, environmentalism had planted its roots as a growing focus of many American citizens. Before the focus on the environment as we know it, there were multiple individuals who stressed the importance of nature and brought attention to the degradation of the environment through industrialization. Famous literary scholars first expressed their concern during the 1850’s—a direct response to the Industrial Revolution. Henry David Thoreau, with his ode to nature through Walden, or Life in the Woods, captured the importance of nature in a transcendental sense; while later in the nineteenth century, John Burroughs took a more realistic approach with his 27 volumes of essays on his experience with nature. In 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal brought the sense of ecology into government acts; among which were The Soil Conservation Service—reducing the effects of erosion on agricultural land, and the Pittman-Robertson Act, responsible for funding state fishing and wildlife programs from taxes on hunting and fishing equipment.1

Scattered with flowing rivers, lush forests, and everlasting plains, the environment is extraordinary, but is it a place for the government? Since December 2, 1970, the EPA has been restricting the use of our planet and taking our rights away.

“Environmental Justice is a grassroots movement that deals with environmental burdens and their distributional consequences” (Visgilio and Whitelaw, ix) Environmental justice emerged in the United States in the 1960’s during the civil rights movement. However, environmental justice didn’t become a national issue

The purpose of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or sometimes USEPA) is to protect environment and human health, EPA is the agency of federal government and its works by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by congress. In US President Richard Nixon proposed EPA and after signing an executive order by Nixon it started working on 2nd December 1970. This order was ratified in senate and committee hearings. The agency’s administrator is appointed by president which is further approved by congress. The role of administrator is to led the work of agency. The present administrator of US agency is Gina McCarthy. The administrator is given the rank of cabinet

People perspective become more biocentric and the EPA passed more environmental protection policies such as Clean Air Act (‘63,’65,’70,’77,’90) to decrease the air polluted functional; Endangered Species Act (1973,’82,’85.’88) to protect threatened species and increasing their population; Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (1977) to requires reclamation of land mined. EPA is a powerful organization and relate to the legislation of air, water, foods, lands, endangered species, hazardous wastes,i.e,

On April 22,1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to protest for a healthy, sustainable environment through massive rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized many protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups have been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories, power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife. Now suddenly the groups realized they shared common values. By the end of that year, the first Earth Day had led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Over the years the United States ' environmental policies have expanded as well as the awareness of the public and the opinions of many party members, interest groups, and those directly effected by the environment 's decline. There are many institutions that have an effect on environmental policy like congress, many federal agencies, the office of management and budget and the executive branch, nongovernmental forces, individual citizens, and the main one, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Cohen, Steven). America 's general belief is more contrary to objective reality. Many Americans fear sever water and air pollution over the next 50 years. This is because of industrialization, population growth, and mass consumption. The public have recently started pushing environmental problems to the top of the political agenda.

In the second epoch, the emphasis shifted from regulations to coordinating the objectives of the environment with other social and economic priorities, with more attention to human health effects, and to carrying out the environmental policies that were on books, more resourcefully. In a couple of instances, new goals were formed which went beyond the former goals, for example, including dangerous materials and hazardous waste to the environmental policy agenda, the additionally demanding provisions of the Clean Air Act of 1990, and the more prominent acknowledgment of the international and worldwide implications of pollution. However, the pace of enactment and the coverage of sources of pollution- which were newly identified-- slowed considerably in comparison with the first epoch. What changed most particularly was confidence in the philosophy of regulation and firm control by the government.4 It turned out to be clear that legislation alone, could neither direct nor police all organizations and groups all over the country, nor could it bear all the obligation regarding empowering creative reactions to environmental issues. This was not just a response to the growing involvement of the government. Underlying the second epoch was the acknowledgment that considerable advancement had been accomplished in lessening harmful environmental discharges and upgrading protection of resources, in policy if not generally in deed. After over 10 years of