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Going Green

Going Green. The Birth of the Environmental Movement (21.4). Early American Efforts. Teddy Roosevelt created the first national parks Urban parks created at the turn of the 1900s Hippies “go back to nature” to avoid modern society. Early Activists Organize .

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Going Green

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  1. Going Green The Birth of the Environmental Movement (21.4)

  2. Early American Efforts • Teddy Roosevelt created the first national parks • Urban parks created at the turn of the 1900s • Hippies “go back to nature” to avoid modern society

  3. Early Activists Organize • Sierra Club – founded by John Muir in 1892 • Wilderness Society – founded in 1935 • Focused on conservation originally, later expanded into all areas of environment

  4. London Chokes • The Peppered Moth • 1952 – coal smog floats through London • 12,000 killed by asphyxiation

  5. Rachel Carson • 1962 – “Silent Spring” was released • Described impact of pesticides on plants, animals, and people • Claimed people were impacting the environment • Public shocked and angered

  6. Carson’s Lesson Comes to Life • 1969 – Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River catches fire • Industrial waste and oil sludge • Activists organize around this events

  7. Congress Takes Action • Bans DDT for use as a pesticide • Birth defects • Soft eggs for birds

  8. Earth Day • WI senator Gaylord Nelson creates it to bring issues to the gov’t • 20,000,000 take part in action

  9. Nixon: The New Teddy Roosevelt? • 1970 – Environmental Protection Agency • Protect the entire ecological chain • The Clean Air Act • The Clean Water Act • Endangered Species Act • 1974 – Ford continues with Nuclear Regulatory Commission

  10. The Carter Years: Green Gets Dirty • Love Canal – Toxic waste from New York chemical plants caused birth defects and cancer in children • Homeowners take EPA officials hostage until Carter buys their homes • 1980 – Congress creates “Superfund” to clean up environmental hazards

  11. The China Syndrome • March 1979 – Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania begins to melt down • Reactor shut down • President Carter toured the plant to reassure the public • US terrified of nuclear power • Gov’t bans new plants

  12. Cold War Politics and the Environment • Communist economies create environmental disasters • No incentive to change production methods • Unresponsive to demands so unconcerned with public outcry • Lack of free press to inform • Fear of failing gov’t demands

  13. Environmentalism Today • Exxon Valdez – 1989 • Global cooling then Global warming • Climate change now • Oil Drilling – ANWAR • Sea Level Change • Mass Extinctions as seas and land warms • BP oil spill (Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico)

  14. The Debate • Private Property Rights vs. Public Health • Is this a natural cycle caused by solar cycles or man made? • How should US gov’t behave if it puts US business in competitive disadvantage with world?

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