“This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through radioactive materials and a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil

fuels... Pollution destroys beauty and menaces health. It cuts down on efficiency, reduces property values and raises taxes. The longer we wait to act, the greater the dangers and the

larger the problem.” -- US President Lyndon B. Johnson (1965)

Phase 1 ConservationEarly 1900’s

Phase 2 Environmentalism1960-1980

Phase 3 Regulation vs Free Market2000’s

John Muir“Preservationist”

• 1872, protection of Yosemite Valley by the state of California and the creation of Yellowstone National Park by Congress.

• Founded Sierra Club in 1892• Muir valued nature for its

spiritual and transcendental qualities. His philosophy and world view rotated around his perceived dichotomy between civilization and nature. From this developed his core belief that "wild is superior"

vs. Gifford Pinchot“Conservationist”

• the first head of the United States Forestry Service and a leading spokesman for the sustainable use of natural resources for the benefit of the people.

• resource management. He saw conservation as a means of managing the nation's natural resources for long-term sustainable commercial use. As a professional forester, his view was that "forestry is tree farming," without destroying the long-term viability of the forests.

Theodore Roosevelt

• Roosevelt designated 200 million acres as national forests, mineral reserves, and potential waterpower sites, and added five national parks and eighteen national monuments to the list of protected lands.

• In 1908 Roosevelt created the National Conservation Commission to inventory the nation’s resources and manage their use more efficiently.

• These early movements had elitist qualities- eager to protect wildlife for hunting and fishing and to preserve open space for aesthetics and recreation. primarily social organizations that existed to provide outdoor excursions for their members.

mid 20th century environmentalism• Rapid development, economic and industrial growth caused challenges to the

environment that slowly became visible to humans and drastically affected their well-being.

• Dust bowl years caused by over and misunderstood farming methods.

• Suburbanization and the rise of the automobile.

• 1956 -- The Federal-Aid Highway Act (build 41,000 miles of road)

• 1962 -- Silent Spring by Rachel Carson opened a dialogue about the relationship between people and nature. The book described how DDT entered the food chain and accumulated in the fatty tissues of animals, including human beings, and caused cancer and genetic damage.

• Late 1960’s early 70’s -- A new environmentalism emerged out of the social ferment and activism of the 1960s. Their focus was not on land and wildlife preservation but on pollution and toxic substances in the environment and their effects on human health.

Events trigger reaction

• (1969) Ohio Cuyahoga River fire• brown oily film observed upstream. large quantities of black heavy oil floating in slicks,

several inches thick. Debris and trash collects in an unsightly floating mess. Animal life does not exist. The color changes from gray-brown to rusty brown as the river proceeds downstream. TIME magazine described it as the river that "oozes rather than flows" and in which a person "does not drown but decays"

• (1969) Santa Barbara Oil Spill• It was the largest oil spill in the US at the time, and now ranks third after the 2010

Deepwater Horizon and 1989 Exxon Valdez spills. still the largest oil spill in the waters off California. the source of the spill was a "blow out" 6 miles from the coast. Within a ten-day period, an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 barrels spilled into the Channel and onto the beaches of Southern California.

Legislation under Nixon• 1969National Environmental Policy Act• 1970Clean Air Act (1970)• April 22, 1970-first Earth Day• 1970Occupational Safety and Health Act• 1972Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act• 1972Clean Water Act• 1972Noise Control Act• 1973Endangered Species Act• 1974Safe Drinking Water Act• 1975Hazardous Materials Transportation Act• 1976Resource Conservation and Recovery Act• 1976Solid Waste Disposal Act• 1976Toxic Substances Control Act

OIL embargo and crisis

• By the early 1970s, American oil consumption–in the form of gasoline and other products–was rising even as domestic oil production was declining, leading to an increasing dependence on oil imported from abroad, (In 1973, 36% of energy consumption was in foreign oil, while in 1970 it had been 22%)

• 1970-1971 -- US had reached “peak oil” referring to the estimated halfway point of its reserves was reached.

• On October 16, 1973, OPEC announced a decision to raise the posted price of oil by 70%, referred to as the “oil embargo”,

• OPEC is an intergovernmental organization composed of Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Later it was joined by nine more governments: Libya, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Angola, and Gabon.

• Nov. 27, 1973 Nixon signed the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act, embracing government regulation

• The Federal Energy Office was created in December of 1973, as part of the Executive Office of the President, gaining responsibility over fuel allocation, rationing, prices, and 'Project Independence'

• The embargo itself lasted six months, ending on March 18, 1974, But the effects of the energy crisis continued to have an impact on the American way of life and government policy.

Impact on US population

• caused Americans to buy smaller more fuel efficient cars. • Congress issuing a 55 mph limit at the end of 1973. • Daylight savings time was extended year round to reduce electrical use in

the American home. • People were asked to decrease their thermostats to 65 degrees.

• Awareness of dependence on foreign oil as a vulnerability.

• As part of the movement toward energy reform, efforts were made to stimulate domestic oil production.

• 1974 -- The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System built

President’s After the crisis• Jimmy Carter 1977-1981, continued towards environmental progress and

energy reform, in 1977, he’s known for installing solar panels on the white house and he wore sweaters to offset turning down the heat in the White House.

• But his most memorable contribution to the 2nd phase of environmental was Love Canal

• In Niagara falls NY, more than 800 families were evacuated from the neighborhood, which was built on top of a toxic waste landfill. Federal disaster money was appropriated to demolish the approximately 500 houses and 2 schools which were built on top of the dump; and to remediate the dump and construct a containment area for the hazardous wastes. This was the first time that such a process had been undertaken. Carter acknowledged that several more "Love Canals" existed across the country, and that discovering such hazardous dumpsites was "one of the grimmest discoveries of our modern era".

Reagan and Bush

• This particular era reflected little progress in the environmental policies of US government

• Gov’t had become an unacceptably heavy burden to market capitalism and to the individual freedom of Americans. Reagan’s goal was to “get government off the backs of the people”.

• The debate between command and control regulation versus Economic Incentive programs started to build a foothold as corporate interests developed a reaction to what they considered stifling legislative action during the 1970’s

Command and Control

• "Command and control" regulations focus on preventing environmental problems by specifying how a company will manage a pollution-generating process. This approach generally relies on detailed regulations followed up by an ongoing inspection program.

• popular in the early stages of American environmental regulation in the 1970's. They were based on engineering approaches to specific pollution sources, such as those designated as significant by the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

• The Clean Air Act requires that national ambient air quality standards be set to protect human health with an adequate margin of safety. Cost is not supposed to enter the decision process. Similarly, water quality standards such as fishable, swimmable, or drinkable are selected by states for each body of water. EPA sets limitation standards for different industrial sectors on the basis of technologies already adopted by cleaner facilities. Cost enters the standard-setting process only to the extent that large segments of industry must not be driven to bankruptcy.

• the primary advantage of using command-and-control mechanisms is that they provide a clear outcome, while being comparatively simple to monitor compliance. Therefore, it is possible that an emissions reduction goal can be reached; if not, the violators will pay a fine.

• Primary drawbacks. It is very costly for regulators to gather necessary information, and they often have to collect it from the sources that they are regulating - creating the possibility for inaccurate or dishonest reporting. Polluters also have very little choice about how to meet the standards; therefore, there is no incentive to research new and creative ways to reduce their emissions.

Economic Incentives• Economic-incentive instruments are regulations that encourage behavior through price

signals rather than through explicit instructions on pollution control levels or methods. These policy instruments, such as tradable permits and pollution charges, have been described as "harnessing market forces,"

• • Trading of sulfur dioxide allowances in the Acid Rain program, which encourages utilities to find least cost compliance strategies; • Subsidizing farmers and others to conserve habitat and control pollution;

• Requiring a deposit on beverage containers to encourage recycling, which now occurs in ten states; many states have a similar system for lead acid batteries; • Imposing liability for natural resource damages caused by oil and hazardous material spills, a incentive to encourage pollution prevention; • Encouraging reductions in toxic emissions by broadly disseminating information about emissions through hazard warning labeling and in communities through the annual Toxics Release Inventory; and, • Promoting voluntary programs such as Energy Star, Waste Wise, XL and other programs that reduce pollution by assisting and rewarding voluntary actions to reduce energy use and limit pollution.