History Section 2: Energy and the Environment

Roots of the Modern US environmental Movement Silent Spring Rachel Carson – 1962 – Exposed harmful effects of DDT – Opened the public’s eyes Population Bomb Paul Ehrlich Argue overpopulation cause of world’s environment problems -Made family planning, contraception, and abortion important Santa Barbara Oil Spill -90,000 barrels of crude oil contaminated beeches -Early 1969

More Roots of the Modern US environmental Movement Partial Meltdown of 3 Mile Island Nuclear Plant 1979 Exxon Valdez tanker spilled over 11 million gallons of Oil 1989 – Largest oil spill in US at the time – Second largest even today 1973 Arab-Israeli War- awareness for energy independence Discover of Chlorofluorocarbons as harmful - used as refrigerants - could destroy ozone layer Hooker Chemical Company - dumped about 20,000 tons of toxic waste into neighborhood canal -caused miscarriages, birth defects, abnormalities in children

Question Name one root of the environmental movement. P.S. If you really can’t name one, you really suck

Federal Protection of the Environment Before 60’s, entirely for benefit of states Changed w/ environmental movement Passed series of laws ( yes a lot) Responsibility moved from local to national

Clean Air Act October 1948, thick cloud of pollution kills 20 people 1952, “Killer Fog” formed over city of London, cause thousands of premature deaths Clean Air Act passed 1963( made stronger in 1970) Allocated 95 mil to study air pollution, allow gov’t to reduce air pollution, set emissions standards, invest in sulfur-removing tech Same year, Environmental Protection Agency established(EPA) - to oversee enforcement Revised AGAIN 1990, to focus more on setting limits for certain air pollutants, monitor air quality, enforce regulations

Question What did the 1990 revisal of the Clean Air Act do?

National Environmental Policy Act Jan 1, 1970 Advocated for environmental protection, but regarding social and economic matters required federal agencies to incorporate environmental values in decisions – Have to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for all legislative actions

Clean Water Act 1972, amendation of Federal Pollution Control Act Eliminate water pollution Limits on water quality Implement National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Requires permits to discharge pollutants into waters

Endangered Species Act To protect and recover at-risk species and ecosystems Plants and animal species may be listed as threatened/endangered Their habitat is protected by Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries Service

Northern Spotted Owl

Other acts and Stuff Montreal Protocol 1987: called for total elimination of ozone-depleting CFCs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 1988: conduct balanced, scientific studies on climate change

The Atmosphere and Statistics Basically anything greenhouse effecty Greenhouse gases comprise small part of atmosphere Amount of CO2 in atmosphere increased 35 % since industrial revolution, b/c of burning fossil fuels on large scale Debate moved from existance to consequences

International Panel on Climate Change Formed 1988 by UN environment Program to provide knowledge on climate change and impacts 195 countries currently members of IPCC Does not do own research but reviews it to develop reports to inform the international community about it to help them make well informed decisions Has released 5 assessment reports on climate change so far

Mitigation and Adaptation Mitigation: reducing or eliminating underlying drivers of climate change Adaptation: not changing climate change, but reducing damage

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change International treaty to work against climate change Created 1992, has 194 countries as members Designed to provide a framework of shared goals, procedures, and organizations for member countries Goal is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system” Recognizes Common but Differentiated Responsibility, that: – Industrialized countries have emitted large amounts of greenhouse gases and are primary culprits of current environmental problems – Developing countries need to grow

UNFCCC Part 2 Makes sense: developed countries cant stop climate change on their own Only way possible is for all major emitters to work together Recently, China surpassed US in emitting, India will soon pass within a decade or so

Question Summarize Common but Differentiated Responsibility in your own words

The Kyoto Protocol Dec 11, 1997 in Kyoto Began Feb 16, 2007 after ratification by Canada and Russia Established specific and binding commitments Participating INDUSTRIALIZED nations agree to reduce emissions by 5.2% (1990’s levels) by 2012 Currently 192 parties, but Canada, Russia, and Japan withdrew groups: Annex I and Annex II – Annex I are developed and are bound by reduction targets – Annex II are developing and not required to reduce

Why is the US not part of the Kyoto Protocol? We suck 1997, Al Gore signed on behalf of US, but never submitted to Senate for ratification – Why? Because senate unanimously opposed to treaty 5 months before Al Gore signed, Senate issued Byrd-Hagel resolution, stating that US wouldn’t b/c of economic reasons vote in senate 2001, George W Bush renounced treaty as potentially harmful to US economy

Question What do Annex I countries agree to by becoming part of the Kyoto Protocol?