Love Canal came to be after construction was halted on a canal project that branched off of Niagara Falls. Hooker Chemical Company who was located nearby saw this failed project as an opening for removing 21,000 tons of toxic chemicals by simply dumping them in the empty canal and covering it with clay. The disheartening detail involved is that the Government officially sanctioned Hooker granting them the free improper dumping rights. The biggest heartbreak with Love Canal is that the Government then allowed houses, parks, and schools to be constructed on the toxic waste dump. New York Officials and School Board members knew of the dangers, but instead chose to publicly hide them because of the cheap cost of the land. Not much was said or done until 1978 when a mother began to connect the dots between the buried canal and all the sicknesses involved in the small community. Her small, grass-roots door-to-door lobbying was difficult and small at first, but eventually grew to the national level after getting past unhelpful officials. Finally, in 1978 a state of emergency was declared and 200 families were removed. Nature is always changing and the altered water columns surrounding the Niagara caused these toxins to leak. Removing 200 residents was not enough; everyone had to go. In 1981 Regan declared another state of emergency and all remaining families were removed. Clean up projects were activated in attempts to fix the damage. In 2004, Love Canal was finally fenced in and allowed to grow naturally without the impact of humans due to the 82 horrible toxins and carcinogens that lay below the ground.
On the very first Earth Day ever observed, protestors in the city of Syracuse organized a "sludge trudge," touring the parts of the city contributing the most to the pollution problem. Onondaga Lake was the most polluted lake in the country due to all of the industrial pollution factories in the city created. Swimming in the lake was banned in 1940 lasting up until a few years ago when they declared it was "safe" to enter.
Earth Day was the result of the environmental movement of post war America, Senator Gaylord Nelson was the person who came up with the idea. The event was meant to raise awareness about the present environmental issues, and it quickly became popular around the USA, with over 20 million participating in the various programs. Earth Day also led to some important environmental legislation getting passed.
The past century, Cleveland Ohio was a major industrial manufacturing hub. Near the end of the 1960s, waste and sewer disposal lacked any major regulations. All of these pollutants were constantly littered into the Cuyahoga River near Cleveland. This river was considered one of the most polluted rivers in the U.S. because of these conditions. Beginning in 1868, the river caught fire multiple times. The latest occurrence happened in 1969, when a train sped by igniting oil covered debris. There were no major damages and injuries like previous occurrences, but there was a lot more media coverage due to the timing this took place in; right around environmentalism was taking off. Because of this fire, congress was inspired to prevent future events like this again by passing the National Environmental Policy Act on the first day of the very next year in 1970. This act was crucial in establishing the Environmental Protection Agency. So, overall, this event was more impactful legislative wise in comparison to the lasting damage/fatalities caused by the Cuyahoga River fire.
The Wilderness Act was signed by President Johnson to set aside land that would be completely uninhabited by humans. This land was public land that the government said would remain completely untouched by roads, motor vehicles, or development of any kind. The Wilderness Act was an important turning point in American environmental history. The act helped to represent some of the new values of the American people, one of which was enjoying untouched nature.
Connecticut was becoming very highly populated, specifically congesting in cities, causing many residents of the state to seek out relief from the packed city life. The first meeting was held on September 29th, 1913 where the general assembly wrote "there was the need, desire and opportunity to begin a State Park Commission in Connecticut". A systematic examination of Connecticut's landscape was made by a man names Albert M. Turner who traveled the 254 mile Connecticut coast to determine what land had state park potential. Upon return, he established Bluff Point in Groton, Hammonasset Beach in Madison, and Sherwood Island in Westport to be the first Connecticut State Parks.
The Endangered Species Act, signed by President Nixon in 1973, provided the framework for the conservation of endangered species and their habitats. For this act to fulfill its goal, it was essential to have a comprehensive understanding of what species could be considered endangered and what species needed protecting. In 1975, the Smithsonian Institution proposed a list of over 3,000 species that could be considered endangered or threatened and should be protected by the Endangered Species Act.
Exxon Mobil used the same "playbook" as big tobacco to fight climate science. This was done to create a divide between people usually for the benefit of the business and fighting climate regulation. This relates to what we learned in class (or what we will learn) because as environmentalism becomes more prominent and science comes to light businesses will have to front costs of being more environmentally friendly which takes away from their profit. Also, it is important to mention that with the science of climate change becoming more common knowledge people will begin to realize just how much damage these industries have done and will make them obsolete and force them to pay. Lastly just like the article we read criticising air and water protection legislation this company would go on to not blame itself but consumers for climate change. Though with this being the case we now have politized the environment to the point that these industries will continue to go on unlike the movements of the 70s where environmentalism was somewhat bipartisan.
In joining activism in the United States about environmental activism and conservation, organizers in Canada organized an anti-pollution fashion show. Taking place at the Place Bonaventure hotel in downtown Montreal, the activity was highlighted with women dressed in "jump suits, heavy vinyl gloves, and plastic face masks."
Earth Day demonstrations were extremely widespread during its inception in April 1970, and one of the more notable events took place at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia. The area celebrated the new holiday for an entire week, hosting numerous speakers and events throughout the course of the week. These were headlined by the cast of "Hair" on Broadway, beat poet Allen Ginsberg, and Maine Senator Edmund Muskie. By including so many popular celebrities in their events, the organizers of this Earth Day celebration were able to spread their ideas throughout American society. The organizers were assisted by CBS news show host Walter Kronkite, who put the Philadelphia Earth Day logo behind him during the show. The event left a lasting impact on American culture, expanding the reach of Earth Day for decades to follow.
April 22, 1970 was the Earth Day where people in major cities all around the United States united outside and protested. They fought against air pollution, oil extraction and spill, and cleaned up trash. Many protesters were college students and younger advocating for future generations. They were frustrated that government policies weren't focusing on saving the environment, and were fighting for an overall quality of life. Earth Day was a national phenomenon, and since there had already been anti war protests, the concept of marching in the streets with signs was popular and effective. This photo shows young girls in Washington Square Park cleaning up trash.
The Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing company was founded in 1850 by five Philadelphia Quakers. In the 1950s the company changed its name to Pennsalt Chemicals Corporation and began manufacturing a plethora of chemicals for industrial, agricultural, and household use. During the 50s Pennsalt was one of the largest producers of DDT. During World War Two, DDT had been found to be effective at limiting the spread of malaria and typhus to civilians and military troops. After the war, DDT was made available to farmers for use as an agricultural insecticide, being produced by companies like Pennsalt. These companies would go on to advertise DDT as a safe and effective insecticide for residential and household use in the elimination of mosquitos, ants, and other pests. The chemical was quickly found to be harmful to both humans and the environment, however, the movement to ban it would take over 25 years with its use finally being regulated in 1972 by the EPA. Despite the awareness of the chemical's many harms, Pennsalt continued advertising their product until production was banned.
On January 28, 1969, the Union Oil Company was drilling in the Pacific coast of Santa Barbara and spilled 3 million of gallons of crude oil into the beautiful Santa Barbara Channel. This body of water has crystal clear waters, is home to countless species of wildlife, has white sand beaches and it a great economic hub for the state of California. The tragic, man-create oil spill covered miles of the coastline and killed thousands of fish, birds, seaweed and other organisms. The cleanup of this oil spill was not only extremely expensive, but there was no clear, effective way to do it. Hundreds of men were sent to Santa Barbara to scatter hay along the beaches, because it is good with absorption. That hay was discarded after the oil was soaked up, and thrown into dumpsters or other bodies of water, which defeated the whole purpose of the clean up efforts. Because of this catastrophic event, President Nixon ended oil drilling and extraction in Santa Barbara. Additionally, he signed the National Environmental Policy Act (1969), which requires companies to file environmental impact reports. The Santa Barbara Oil Spill was a significant oil spill in US history and held severe impacts on the economy and the environment. This event opened the eyes of so many Americans and revealed the horrors of human activity on the environment.
Before 1970, there were little to no environmental regulations. There was no Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, EPA, etc. Senator Gaylord Nelson saw this as an issue and created Earth Day in the Spring of 1970 as a way to push this problem into the national agenda. This method worked as congress created the U.S Environmental Protection Agency in the following December to tackle any and all environmental issues and start implementing policy throughout the country. Now, every year on April 22nd, millions gather to express their passion for the environment.
In 1886 Congress created six segregated regiments which were later turned into four regiments (two cavalry units and two infantry units). These African American soldier regiments were known as "Buffalo Soldiers" supposedly because the Native Americans they encountered compared them to buffalo because they fought with honor as did the buffalo. These soldiers are important to environmental history because they were some of the first park rangers. 500 buffalo soldiers served in Yosemite National Park. Their main duties were kicking out poachers, timber thieves, and even putting our forest fires.
New York state officially adopted the Adirondack Park as a region where no land "shall be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private, nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed." (Article VII, Section 7 of the New York Constitution). In 1902, The boundaries of the park were defined for the first time in a bill passed by New York.
For the first time in about ten years, America was finally booming again. The world wars combined with the great depression left many dead, cold, starving and sick. The post war market economy brought money and jobs back to Americans. For once, people had more money than they needed and they had a large urge to spend it. During this boom, fossil fuel usage and the potential for solar housing became a minuscule discussion. For ten years, prestigious Universities funneled research into solar housing. This new method of heating was going to change the world. Scientists at this time didn't even have a grasp on photovoltaic effects; this increased solar research was solely led by heating purposes. Scientists like Maria Telkes who conducted research at MIT led this field for its short run until it died in the mid 1950's. Big businesses had a different plan for the future which did not include solar housing. They wanted cheap housing produced on a large scale so that they would generate more profits. Their actions combined with essentially no government funding created a mechanism bound to fail. After 1955, solar energy would not receive serious research for another twenty-five years.
Levittown, Pennsylvania is one of the best examples we have of the transformation of suburban America. Levittown had two locations in the United Sates, the first being on Long Island, New York. William J. Levitt utilized a twenty-six step method in order to most efficiently mass produce cookie-cutter suburban homes as quickly as possible on a given land acreage. His assembly-line like production methods resulted in a finished house being produced roughly every 16 minutes, an absolute engineering marvel at the time. When all was said and done with original constructions, there were over 17,000 homes built in this Pennsylvanian town. Its relationship to our class and environmental history involves the town's ignorance of solar technologies and energy-efficient homes and its embracement of 100% electric homes. Levittown, Pennsylvania revolutionized the housing market, home construction, and most importantly the American suburb.
Lake Hotel was the first hotel to be built in Yellowstone National park in 1891. Construction of the hotel was financed by the Northern Pacific Railroad company. The hotel was built to look sophisticated and grand, earning the nickname "Lake Colonial Hotel". This is marketing indicates that Yellowstone National Park was originally marketed toward the wealthy. The park was a way for the rich to get away from the city and enjoy nature like real transcendentalists. The fact that the hotel was built by a railroad company underscores the intent to bring people from the city to the park for vacation. The construction also shows the level of acceptable infrastructure allowed in the park. The goal, it seems, was to keep the park as minimal as possible while also being able to offer the greatest amount of amenities possible without losing the natural ascetic.
Sequoia National Park was the second national park recognized by the United States government and the first part to protect a living organism, sequoiadendron giganteum. Originally, there was one small path that lead to the giant forest but in 1903 the first road was constructed allowing vehicles to access the area. The rise of the automobile industry resulted in the creation of Generals Highway in 1926 proving the park to be more accessible than ever before. It was even said that the check-in station at the entrance of the park experienced traffic from the influx of visitors.
On September 25, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison established Sequoia National Park, making it the second national park in America. Situated in the middle of California, this large area of mountainous land is famous for its groves of giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) trees, which includes a subsection known as the Giant Forest, named for the fact that it contains 5 out of 10 largest trees in the world by volume. As the park was created to protect these giant sequoias from logging, it made history as the first national park formed to protect a living organism. Because it was established so early in the national park process, U.S. Army Cavalry troops were assigned to protect the park for its first twenty years, and it didn’t become a popular destination to visit until national automobile travel increased in the late 1920s. A century later, Sequoia is one of the most well known national parks and it has successfully preserved a landscape that resembles the pre-colonial Southern Sierra Nevada.
The idea of air conditioning was created by Willis Carrier, it started with the need to cool down printers for the ease of producing newspapers. From this invention even more complex models of air conditioning that could be used to keep larger spaces cool started to come about. As these came about people were not the most accepting at first but once they began to realize the possible benefits of having air conditioning it became a marketable product. Post war, the 1950s was the boom of popularity of having air conditioning in homes. This revolution of homes became so prevalent that now homes are more likely to have air conditioning than garages. This invention of the air conditioning competed with the solar home and eventually won the race allowing for the U.S to be the only place that uses air conditioning at such a high level, the amount of energy used for air conditioning here is greater than anywhere else. Though solar energy may have been more environmentally friendly in the economic race it lost.
"In 1850, there were about 150 documented glaciers in this area of the Rocky Mountains. Most were still there when the national park was established in 1910. Maps of the glaciers in 1968—surveyed by airplane by the USGS—counted 83 ice-and-snow bodies with areas greater than 0.1 square kilometers. Today the number of ice bodies is 25." -https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/Glacier
This connects really well with Cole's Essay on American Scenery as it showcases another issue we now have with the "sublime" disappearing.
This law was introduced by Representative John F. Lacey before it was signed into law by President William McKinley. The main purpose was to implement civil and criminal penalties for those who violate the new violations. It aimed to protect wildlife and plants by prohibiting imports, exports, sale, and purchase of illegally hunted animals or acquired plants. This also tried to prevent introduction of foreign species of plants and animals into federally protected areas. Later in 2008, timber protection was added to this act with an amendment which targeted illegal logging and products being made from those materials. This ties in because we discussed Roosevelt and others seeing nature for its beauty. And, how they wanted it to be appreciated and protected. Here is where actions began to take place. Although timber and forest protection was not added until the next century, I thought that these acts were better than nothing regarding preservation efforts in order to scare people away from over-consumption and hunting in America. In my opinion, penalties are the most effective way in discouraging deforestation and other behaviors many people do for money.