Protecting America’s Environment

Protecting America’s Environment: My Q’s How did the environmental movement change in American history? Why was Rachel Carson and her book Silent Spring important? Why was the EPA created and how does it protect for the environment? What is global warming?

Change in the Environmental Movement The Environmental Movement in American really first took off when President Teddy Roosevelt and some of his nature-loving friends decided to preserve large portions of America’s natural lands through the National Parks System. They were not necessarily against industrialization and pollution, they just wanted to make sure these lands were preserved mainly for recreational and beauty. However, beginning in the 60s, environmentalists began to directly criticize human action and industrialization for the negative effects they were having on the planet.

Silent Spring The modern environmental movement in the U.S. began with the publishing of Rachel Carson’s book called Silent Spring. Industrial factories and commercial farms had been poisoning the environment for decades with pollution and pesticides. Carson, a former researcher of fish and wildlife, declared in Silent Spring that pesticides were killing wildlife and would eventually endanger the human population.

The Effects of Silent Spring Silent Spring immediately resulted in the banning of DDT—a dangerous pesticide—in many states and eventually by the federal government. Most importantly, Carson convinced many Americans to consider how their actions affected the environment. Today, many environmentalists still look up to Carson as the “mother” of their movement to protect the earth.

EPA One of the most important effects of Carson’s research and the environmental movement came from environmentalists’ demand for a federal agency that looked after the environment. That agency became known as the EPA. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is a federal agency that protects the health of humans and the environment by creating and passing legislation aimed at improving the environment. To this day, the EPA fights against oil companies and other industrialists who pollute our water and air.

Continued Pollution Several different environmental issues continue to alarm environmentalists today. Acid rain caused by industrial air pollution is still an area of concern in certain regions of the United States. To help fight this issue, President Clinton established higher air-quality standards and massive clean-ups of hazardous waste sites. However, President George W. Bush did little to help the environment, allowing for higher levels of arsenic in water and oil drilling in the Artic Wildlife Reserve.

Global Warming Perhaps the most pressing environmental issue facing the environmentalists and politicians today is global warming (sometimes called climate change). Many scientists warn that global warming caused by carbon dioxide and other gases dangerously threaten agricultural production, animal ecosystems, and could alter temperatures around the world. Some even claim that recent natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Sandy may have been created or intensified by global warming.