What are the most important environmental issues currently in the US? Global warming/climate change: US has not signed up to the Kyoto Treaty which set limits on Carbon emission growth. UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlights: A) Temps have risen 1.3 degrees F. in last 100 years; sea levels have risen by an average of .07 inch per year since 1961.

B) About 20% - 30% of all plant and animal species face the risk of extinction if temps increase 2.7 degrees. If it rises by 6.3 degrees, 40% to 70% of species could disappear. C) Human activity is largely responsible for the warming: global emissions of greenhouse gasses grew 70% from 1970 to 2004. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is far higher than the natural range over the last 650,000 years. D) Poor countries will most adversely affected but all will be to some extent. By 2020, 75 to 250 million people in Africa will suffer water shortages; residents in Asia’s largest cities will be at greater risk of river and coastal flooding; Europeans can expect extensive species loss and North America will experience longer and hotter heat waves and greater competition for water.

Environmental issues cont… 2. Clean Air: 1990 Act needs updating. Bush administration has allowed old power plants to operate without modern pollution controls. 9 Northeastern states have challenged legality of rule change. Toxic chemicals (70,000 of them in use regularly) need to be replaced. 3. Water quality: standards need improving. Beach goers learn every season the perils of swimming in our waters.

Environmental issues cont… 4. Use of public lands: a) Bush admin overturned Clinton ban on snowmobiles in Yellowstone (limited use instead of ban). b) Oil exploration in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. So far, no drilling measures have passed Congress. c) Expanded logging on 20 million acres (2003) and Bush admin argues for 175 million more acres.

Environmental issues cont… 5. Nuclear Waste: Plan to store nation’s nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is still being fought over. 6. Move the US beyond fossil fuels through the promotion of alternative and renewable sources of energy e.g., wing, solar, nuclear, hydrogen, ethanol etc…