Page 193 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

In addition, many millions of acres of land were doled out to
railroad companies, which built rail lines to transport people,
resources, and goods across the continent. All these policies
encouraged settlers, entrepreneurs, and land speculators to
move west.

The second wave of U.S. environmental
policy encouraged conservation

In the late 1800s, as the continent became more populated
and its resources were increasingly exploited, public percep-
tion and government policy toward natural resources began to
shift. Reflecting the emerging conservation and preservation
ethics (pp. 156–157) in American society, laws of this period
aimed to alleviate some of the environmental impacts of west-
ward expansion.
In 1872, Congress designated Yellowstone as the world’s
first national park. In 1891, Congress authorized the president
to create “forest reserves” in order to prevent overharvesting
and protect forested watersheds. In 1903, President Theodore
Roosevelt created the first national wildlife refuge. These acts
enabled the creation of a national park system, national forest
system, and national wildlife refuge system that still stand as
global models (pp. 334, 341). These developments reflected a
new understanding that the West’s resources were exhaustible
and required legal protection.
Land management policies continued through the 20th
century, targeting soil conservation after the Dust Bowl years Figure 7.8 Scientist and writer Rachel Carson illuminated
(pp. 242–243) and wilderness preservation with the Wilder- the problem of pollution from DDT and other pesticides in
ness Act of 1964 (pp. 342–343), which sought to preserve her 1962 book, Silent Spring.
pristine lands “untrammeled by man, where man himself is a
visitor who does not remain.”
Congress and the president to better safeguard the environment
and public health. The first Earth Day event in 1970 helped to
The third wave of U.S environmental policy galvanize public support for action to address pollution problems.
Today, largely because of policies enacted since the
responded to pollution 1960s, our health is better protected and the nation’s air and

Further social changes in the 20th century gave rise to the water are considerably cleaner. Thanks to the many citi-
third major period of U.S. environmental policy. In a more zens who worked tirelessly in grassroots efforts, and to the
densely populated nation driven by technology, heavy indus- policymakers who listened and chose to make a difference in
try, and intensive resource consumption, Americans found people’s lives, today we enjoy a cleaner environment where
themselves better off economically but living amid dirtier air, industrial chemicals, waste disposal, and resource extraction
dirtier water, and more waste and toxic chemicals. During the are more carefully regulated. All of us alive today owe a great
1960s and 1970s, several events triggered increased aware- deal to the dedicated people who designed policy to tackle
ness of environmental problems, bringing about a shift in pub- pollution problems during this period.
lic priorities and important changes in public policy.
A landmark event was the 1962 publication of Silent NEPA and the EIS process
Spring, a book by American scientist and writer Rachel Carson grant citizens input
(Figure 7.8). Silent Spring awakened the public to the ecologi-
cal and health impacts of pesticides and industrial chemicals One of the foremost U.S. environmental laws is the National
(pp. 386–387). The book’s title refers to Carson’s warning that Environmental Policy act (NEPa), signed into law by Repub-
pesticides might kill so many birds that few would be left to lican President Richard Nixon on January 1, 1970. NEPA cre-
sing in springtime. ated an agency called the Council on Environmental Quality
Ohio’s Cuyahoga River (Figure 7.9) also drew attention to and required that an environmental impact statement (EIS) be
the hazards of pollution. The Cuyahoga was so polluted with prepared for any major federal action that might significantly
oil and industrial waste that the river actually caught fire near affect environmental quality. An EIS is a report of results from
Cleveland a number of times in the 1950s and 1960s. This spec- detailed studies that assess the potential impacts on the envi-
tacle, coupled with an enormous oil spill off the Pacific coast near ronment that would likely result from a development project
192 Santa Barbara, California, in 1969, moved the public to prompt undertaken or funded by the federal government.

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