1. The Environmental Movement 21.4

2. Key Terms Coal smog = toxic waste: – Poisonous byproduct of human activity Acid Rain = moisture due to the mixture of water and chemicals from industry

3. Rachel Carson Silent Spring Warned about: – Impact of deadly pesticides on birds + animals – Human activity altered the environment + humans needed to protect it Impacts: – Congress to restrict use of DDT – Spurred widespread environmental activitsm among Americans – Earth Day – 4/22

4. Environmental Disasters London: – Deadly smog caused by oil fires covered the city killing 12,000 Cleveland: – Fire on the Cuyahoga River when spark ignited the oil that was floating on top

5. Nixon’s Environmental Support Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – Protect entire ecological chain by cleaning + protecting the environment – Limit the use of pollutants Clean Air Act – Combat air pollution by limiting emissions from factories + cars Clean Water Act – Limit water pollution by industry + agriculture Endangered Species Act – Promoted the protection of endangered species Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Ford) – Ensure the safe handling of nuclear materials + done so w/o harm to ppl or the environment

6. Love Canal, NY Community had extremely high rates of birth defects + cancer – Caused by 1000s of toxic chemicals that had been dumped into the ground for decades – Established a Superfund there to clean it up. A program financed by taxes from oil + chemicals Designed to clean up sites w/ extreme environmental pollution

7. Three Mile Island, PA Core of nuclear reactor on a nuke plant began to melt and caused a malfunction Possibility of nuclear gas leaked into the air – ∴ the governor declared a state of emergency in PA + shut the plant down, accident was contained President Carter + his wife visited the plant to prove it was safe.

8. Long Term Effects of Three Mile Island Incident Increase opposition of nuclear energy b/c possible disaster Temporary ban on building of new nuclear plants – This was lifted by no new were built

9. Conservative Backlash Backlash in response to the environmental mvm’t: – Stripped individuals of their property rights by restricting what they could do w/ the land – Private owners knew what was best for their land – Hamper business interests