While our world was expanding in the 1960s and 1970s people were polluting the earth without even realizing the consequences. One example of pollution if the Love Canal. The Love Canal was a project that was planned to be an Utopian Metropolis ended in failure. After the entrepreneur's plans of creating a beautiful park and living area failed, the City of Niagara Falls bought the land. The area was then used as a chemical dump and then covered with soil. The now refurbished land filled with chemicals was turned into the neighborhood. This would end up to be America's worst environmental disaster. The chemicals that were placed under the neighborhood began to seep upwards and onto the grounds of the neighborhood, parks, housing, and schools. The residents in the Love Canal began to have miscarriages, birth defects, and stillborn babies. This environmental hazard was one event that began the environmental movement. To this day Love canal is still an hazard and is blocked off by a chain link fence.
Another event that impacted the environmental movement was the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970. The Clean Air Act is federal law that regulates the air emissions from stationary and mobile sources. The act was passed in order to prevent the spread of pollution in the air and to increase the health of citizens. The law held a regulation of how much pollution of hazardous materials introduced into the air. This put a regulation of companies such as cars production, production factories, and consumer goods. After the passage of the Clean Air Act, "Emissions of toxic lead have dropped 98 percent. Emissions of sulfur dioxide have dropped by 35 percent percent even though the gross domestic product has more than doubled. Emissions of carbon monoxide have dropped by 32 percent even though driving has increased 127 percent."
Lastly, the event of Earth Day helped support the environmental movement. Earth Day was created on April 22, 1970. Twenty million people across the country participated in the first Earth Day's sit-ins and teach-ins. This now recognized celebration has led to advancements from 1970 to 2010. These advances include the "concentrations of six principal air pollutants declining by almost 71 percent; and in just the first 20 years of the Clean Air Act, an estimated 200,000 premature deaths and 700,000 cases of chronic bronchitis were prevented. The percentage of children with elevated blood-lead levels dropped from 88 percent in the 1970s to just 4.4 percent in the mid-'90s. Similarly, lead air pollution decreased 98 percent by 2000. Prior to 1972, industrial waste and sewage had made approximately two-thirds of waterways unsafe for recreation and fishing use. Three decades later, in 2004, 53 percent of assessed river miles and 70 percent of bay and estuarine square miles were safe for recreation and fishing." This celebration is a worldwide recognition of the need to preserve the planet.
Through the acts of the government and the people awareness for the preservation of the planet has become well-known. Society should recognize the importance of the world around us and not take advantage of the the resources we have. In years to come we may not have the luxury of retaining the resources we need. By driving less, walking, using solar power, recycling, and composting we can reduce the energy we use and protect the world from global warming and pollution of our air, water, and food sources.
Another event that impacted the environmental movement was the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970. The Clean Air Act is federal law that regulates the air emissions from stationary and mobile sources. The act was passed in order to prevent the spread of pollution in the air and to increase the health of citizens. The law held a regulation of how much pollution of hazardous materials introduced into the air. This put a regulation of companies such as cars production, production factories, and consumer goods. After the passage of the Clean Air Act, "Emissions of toxic lead have dropped 98 percent. Emissions of sulfur dioxide have dropped by 35 percent percent even though the gross domestic product has more than doubled. Emissions of carbon monoxide have dropped by 32 percent even though driving has increased 127 percent."
Lastly, the event of Earth Day helped support the environmental movement. Earth Day was created on April 22, 1970. Twenty million people across the country participated in the first Earth Day's sit-ins and teach-ins. This now recognized celebration has led to advancements from 1970 to 2010. These advances include the "concentrations of six principal air pollutants declining by almost 71 percent; and in just the first 20 years of the Clean Air Act, an estimated 200,000 premature deaths and 700,000 cases of chronic bronchitis were prevented. The percentage of children with elevated blood-lead levels dropped from 88 percent in the 1970s to just 4.4 percent in the mid-'90s. Similarly, lead air pollution decreased 98 percent by 2000. Prior to 1972, industrial waste and sewage had made approximately two-thirds of waterways unsafe for recreation and fishing use. Three decades later, in 2004, 53 percent of assessed river miles and 70 percent of bay and estuarine square miles were safe for recreation and fishing." This celebration is a worldwide recognition of the need to preserve the planet.
Through the acts of the government and the people awareness for the preservation of the planet has become well-known. Society should recognize the importance of the world around us and not take advantage of the the resources we have. In years to come we may not have the luxury of retaining the resources we need. By driving less, walking, using solar power, recycling, and composting we can reduce the energy we use and protect the world from global warming and pollution of our air, water, and food sources.
