Pd09: Passage into a New Century

(1968- Present)
Environmentalism
AnneGail Moreland, Sheldon Lee, Hing Li, Jerry Li, Simon Li

Table of Contents
1. Context of Environmentalism
2. Significant Event: Earth Day
3. Significant Figures
a. Gaylord Nelson
b. Albert Arnold Al Gore, Jr.
c. George H W Bush
4. Wordle Picture
a. Key Words
b. Wordle Word Analysis
c. Wordle Overview Analysis
5. Reforms!
a. Richard Nixon
b. Gerald Ford
c. Jimmy Carter
d. Ronald Reagan
i. James Watt/Anne Gorsuch
e. George H. W. Bush
f. Bill Clinton

6. The Big Question

7. Legacy
a. Government
i. Conservative
ii. Liberal
iii. Reward System
b. Current Events
i. Arctic Drilling
ii. EPA; Airplane Emissions
8. Video if time permits (3 Minutes)
9. You Ask, We Answer.
10. Class review sheet
11. Citations

Context (1)

Time Period: 1968 - Present Day (2015)

Place: United States of America
Circumstance:
We need to preserve our beautiful surroundings because
pollution is spreading. The government finally turns an eye
and sees that the environment is important.

Significant Event: Earth Day (2)

Earth Day made by Gaylord Nelson. The main purpose was to raise
awareness of how our environment impacts our lives.
Some people even referred air pollution as the smell of prosperity. The
current time period with hippies and the 1969 Oil Spill at Santa Barbara,
California, had a huge impact on the passage of Earth Day
There were protesting against the government because of the Vietnam
War (Ended in 1975).
This allowed Gaylord Nelson to see the world in a different light. With
protesting, usually comes change.

Significant Figures (3)

Gaylord Nelson (3a)

Grew up during FDRs New Deal plan

During the 60's he had little support in conservation
measures, but in 1969 Nelson proposed a day where
citizens would host teach-ins to raise awareness on
environmental problems. This would become Earth Day
and on April 22, 1970 an estimated 20 million
Americans gathered to promote conservation.
He never went in a position above senator, but he
continued to promote the environment.

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. (3b)

He was a major supporter of the climate change

movement.
Became involved with politics in 1976 (House of Reps)
He was in office from January 20, 1993 (Clinton
Administration VP ) to January 20, 2001
He opened the floor with the idea of environmental
consequence. He held the one of the first, if not the first,
congressional hearings on climate change.
Won Nobel Peace Prize(2007) for activity in Climate
Change Awareness

George H. W. Bush (3c)

Wanted to be known as the Environmental President

He was mostly engaged in international affairs.
Revived environmentalism after Reagan with the
passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments.
During the environmental era of H W Bush, he left behind
a legacy. He enforced a reformulation of gasoline. This
was an attempt to reduce emissions and reduce smog
and toxic pollutant in the air. He tried to led international
emissions trading in attempt to reduce hazards to the
world.

Wordle (4)

Wordle (Keywords) (4a)

Bill:
Provisions
Congress
Environmental
Legislation
Emissions
Air

Wordle Word Analysis (4b)

Bill: signifies the legislatures that were proposed in the clean air act speech
Provisions: supplies proposed for supplementing the clean air act were stated as
being backed by the US government.
Congress: George Bush continuously urges congress to act in this speech citing
the needed approval for this proposal.
Environmental: Of course, environment was mentioned as their are multiple
citations/ sentences starting with references to environmental responsibility and
care.
Legislation: a call for better environmental legislation was repeatedly mentioned as
Bush tried to rally congress behind the clean air act.
Emissions: cited in pollution statistics throughout the speech
Air: quality and legislation of pollution surrounding clean air: was the forefront of
this speech and Bush cited urban/industrial areas for a needed improvement.

Wordle Overview Analysis (4c)

George bush Sr. clean air act speech: When George H W Bush gave the
speech on the resurgence of the Clean Air Act, he laid a foundation of goals to
reach for. George H W Bush is infamous for being interested in oversea affairs
rather than domestic affairs. He wanted to keep true to the original intentions of
the Clean Air Act, which was to maintain a healthy environment with little to no
smog.

Reforms! (5)

A (Republican) B(Democratic)

Richard Nixon (January 20, 1969 August 9, 1974)

Gerald Ford (August 9, 1974 January 20, 1977)
Jimmy Carter (January 20, 1977 January 20, 1981)
Ronald Reagan (January 20, 1981 January 20, 1989)
George H W Bush (January 20, 1989 January 20,
1993
Bill Clinton (January 20, 1993 January 20, 2001)

Richard Nixon (January 20, 1969 August 9, 1974) 5a

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)
o NEPA made federal agency consider the environment when passing
legislature.
Clean Air Act of 1970
o The Clean Air Act was a series of reforms that allowed the government
to regulate air pollution control. EPA was formed to push these
Environmental Acts
Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972
o Protect the waters; Investigate what is dumped into the waters
Endangered Species Act of 1973
o Improvement to the endangered species conservation act of 1969, it
lists endangered species and helps implement plans to help the
species recovery

Gerald Ford (August 9, 1974 January 20, 1977) 5b

Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974
o The goal was the protect the American Public's health when it came to
drinking water. It protected it from both manmade decline and natural
occurring impurities in water. (EPA Set the standards)
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976
o The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act was aimed to protect
human health against waste. The dangers included water, toxic waste
and improper disposal of trash.

Jimmy Carter (January 20, 1977 January 20, 1981) 5c

Superfund or Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980
o This act was passed in response to two disasters- the love canal in
New York and the Valley of Drums in Kentucky. In both cases, toxic
waste was found to be dumped on the sites and had started to leak
out onto the land causing toxic runoff. The act allows for the cleanup
of the toxic material immediately and follow up actions to ensure
the safety of the area which can include blocking off the area and
testing surrounding areas. Additionally, the person responsible can
be held liable and can be fined $37500 for everyday that they do not
comply with orders.

Ronald Reagan (January 20, 1981 January 20, 1989) 5d

James Watt was in charge of the
Department of Interior. He is
infamous for turning down donations
to private land and used land to drill
for resources. He believed in a more
progressive approach (Advancing at
the cost of the environment).
The Department of Interior is in
charge of keeping check the Nation's
natural resources and heritage.

Anne Gorsuch was the head of the

EPA. She believed that the EPA was
not worth the time and investment.
Her appointment as EPA director's
cut EPA Funds by 22%. The EPA is in
charge of making sure the previous
Acts (Clean Air Act/Safe Drinking
Water Act) are held in place.
The EPA is in charge of keeping
check of environmental reforms.
They are also in charge of
inspections to ensure our safety

Under Reagan We Trust [ (5d)i ]

James Watt

Anne Gorsuch

George H. W. Bush (January 20, 1989 January 20, 1993

(5e)

Clear Air Act Amendments of 1990

o Amendment passed to provide research and improvement for the
society. Focused on the 3 major threats; urban air pollution, toxic air
emissions and acid rain. Programs were targeted towards accidental
toxic air pollutants, clean fuels and gases
o One of the few domestic reforms he passed.
o Clear Air Act was not renewed by the Reagan Administration.

Bill Clinton (January 20, 1993 January 20, 2001) (5f)

Our challenge is to leave our environment safe and clean for the next generation
Clinton was very passionate about changing the environment for the better. He greatly reduced
the standards for allowed arsenic levels in drinking water (50 parts per billion -> 10 parts per
billion)
Clinton strengthened the Safe Drinking Water Act by requiring Americas water distributors to
regularly provide reports on the conditions of their drinking water.
Clinton greatly accelerated the cleanup of many toxic waste sites which helped many
communities greatly from environmental threat
By strengthening soot and smog standards, he prevented an estimated 4,300 premature deaths,
260,000 asthma attacks from children, 173,000 cases of childhood respiratory illnesses each
year, and cut down smog pollution by 77-95%. He also reduced tailpipe emissions from cars,
trucks, and SUVs and reduced sulfur levels in gasoline by 90%.

The Big Question (6)

What did it change?

Legacy (Broken down to two parts) 7

Government

Conservatives
Liberals
Reward System
or Incentives

Current Events

Arctic Oil Drilling

EPA; Plans to reduce
Aircraft Emissions

Legacy (Government) [a (i + ii) ]

Conservatives dont believe Global

Warming is a major issue and
believe that the money should be
used somewhere else. They believe
that science does not show that human
involvement affects the planet. If there
are laws passed to counter the
Carbon emissions, it would happen
for no reason. This results in an
increase of prices for fuels. Many
scientist also back up this theory as
well.

Liberals want to pass laws that will

reduce emissions and help keep
the environment balanced. They
also are believers of Global Warming
and believe that it should be a world
effort to ensure the prosperity of our
planet. There are many scientist that
back up this fact of Global
Warming. The Liberals also
believe that we should find other
fuels to use instead of relying on
coal. They want to reduce carbon
dioxide emissions.

Legacy (Government) [7 a(iii)]

Reward System:
The government gives tax credits, rebates and savings to people who
conserve their energy by using other sources. This gives an incentive for
people to actually use the environmental friendly ways of saving the
environment.
These sources may include but not limited to:
Wind Power - Turbines
Water Power - Water wheels/Hydro Dams
Solar Power - Solar Panels
Fuel Cells - Fuel => Electricity through chemical reaction

Legacy (Current Events) [7 b ( i + ii)]

Arctic Drilling:
This is a problem that counters
everything Environmentalism stood
against. The United States is allowing
Shell Oil Company to drill in the
Arctic Ocean. This will result in
more danger to the environment
and risk of huge environmental
damage. If another oil spill would
to happen there, the effects would
be destructive on that ecosystem.
This was a decision made under the
Department of Interior.

EPA; Reduce Aircraft Emissions:

The EPA realized that Airplane
emissions are extremely harmful to
humans and need to be cut down.
This is a direct result of the "Clean Air
Act Amendments" passed by George
W H Bush (Created by Richard
Nixon).
Obama has been praised by
environmentalist because of use the
Clean Air Act to fight pollution across
the United States.

Video (3 minutes) (8)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu6SE5TYrCM

Q+A! (9)
You ask, we answer

Class Review Sheet

10!

Citations (11)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/bush-domestic/
http://energy.gov/savings
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/
http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/index.cfm
http://www.epa.gov/air/caa/amendments.html
http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/Accomplishments/eightyears-08.html
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=19039 (Wordle Speech)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/us/white-house-gives-conditional-approval-for-shell-to-drillin-arctic.html
9. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/business/energy-environment/epa-to-set-new-limits-onairplane-emissions.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-columnregion&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1

Citations (11)
Image:
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/
297755main_gpn-2001-000009_full_0_0.jpg

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Bu6SE5TYrCM