National Environmental Policy Act (Nepa) Essay

The U.S. was rocked by a series of waste land toxic materials, the earth's automatic, self-cleansing, life support systems became increasingly threatened and consequently people from all walks of life and from every part of the political spectrum were expressing their anxieties on the streets and this happened to b the largest public American demonstration ever seen in America. Hence prompting President Richard Nixon transmitted Reorganization Plan No. 3 to the United States Congress by executive order, creating the EPA as a single, independent agency from a number of smaller arms of different federal agencies.

A con to repealing NEPA stems from the idea that federal and non-federal projects alike could take place anywhere without any environmental mitigation measures or considerations if it was repealed. This would cause a “free-for-all” in our country, and environmental disaster would result from the even quicker human-induced environmental change. The removal of NEPA would also impact other agencies’ environmental compliance requirements, as many of those requirements are implemented under NEPA.

When Americans think of nature images of the wild west, wide open plains, and majestic landscapes spring forth. Nature is part of the American heritage; a site of beauty set aside for preservation outside the industrial cities that encompasses daily life. Because of this segregation between nature and man, it is easy to forget that everything on the planet is nature, not simply the parks set aside for preservation and egos. Throughout American history, dating as far back as the indigenous people, this connection between man and the natural world has been prevalent. By examining the the conservationist movement of the twentieth century and the impact Americans have had on the environment, there is a chance to close the chasm that now exists

“The claim that the rain forests are being destroyed "at a rate of 20 football fields a minute" is false . In addition, claims that the Amazon serves as the "lungs of the earth" and that over "450 species" are

In 1978 the destruction of the rainforest began and today figures show we have already lost 750,000 square kilometres in Peru, Columbia and Guyana.

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

One of the first environmental protection laws included the federal law, primarily a procedural law that the government uses before taking of any action. It puts requirements when it comes to construction or impact the environment in some way. Environmental assessment: asses the impacts the proposed project could have on the environment. If nothing is found, then the law is discarded completely. However, if there was something that challenges the environment. The next step is the environmental impact assessment, this is done by researching scientifically and theoretically the extent that the project could have. This is required if the government wishes to proceed with the project, extensively, this does not mean that it has to comply with the recommendations of environmentalists and the findings of the research, but it must document it. The act was in response to the public’s demand in 1967 after an oil tanker in Great Britain

On the afternoon of January 28, 1969, a terrible environmental disaster occurred when a well blowout on the Union Oil Company platform A, causing one of the largest oil spill in the United States. The platform was located in Summerland Oil Field pier which 6 miles east of city of Santa Barbara. Riggers desperately tried to repair the well before oil started spreading to the shoreline. Needless to say, the effects of the oil spill sparked outrage from the local community and the media that inevitably caused ecological effects, safety and ethical concerns. It took oil workers a total of 11 days to cap the ruptured pipe, while an estimated 3 million gallons of poisonous black crude oil showered the Pacific Ocean. Sadly, oceans

The spectrums of oil spill issues are diverse and large. They range from environmental issue to economic, ecological, ethical, politics and policies. Among many other oil spills, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, occurred on April 20, 2010 was recorded as the greatest environmental disaster in our history (BP leak the world's worst accidental oil spill, 2010).

Three to six billion trees are cut down each and every year! Deforestation is a huge problem in the rainforests. Because these forests are home to much of the Earth’s species of life. Covering 30 percent of our land forests provide homes, protection, and oxygen for humans and other wildlife in the forests. There are 7.125 billion people that count on the benefits provided by the forest, which is: food, clothing, traditional medicine and shelter. If something isn 't done soon to reduce our carbon footprint, we will not have forests of any type to soak up the carbon dioxide(CO2) in the atmosphere.

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

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a relatively local issue, the oil was kept contained by the tides, and not much of the oil made it out to sea. The

To this day, researchers and scientists are gathering data to try and understand the oil spill and the impact it’s had on the Gulf coast, it’s communities and marine life. The well was capped off on July 15, 2010, which was eight-seven days after the explosion and sinking of the oil rig and was declared sealed on

in an effort to solve problems, which can be seen with the Clean Water Act.

Deepwater Horizon oil Spill: BP’s drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico had an explosion in April 2010, causing the “largest oil spill catastrophe in the petroleum industry history”. It caused the death of 11 men and injury to several others. “More than 150,000 barrels of crude oil gushed into the sea, every day, for almost 5 months and up to 68,000 square miles of the Gulf 's surface were covered” (1).