APUSH AMSCO Unit 8.13

explain how and why opposition to existing policies and values developed and changed over the course of the 20th century

Environmental Movement (GEO)

three biologists helped launched this movement

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring

explained the negative environmental effects of DDT; argued that unchecked industrial growth would destroy animal life and ultimately human life

Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb

argued that overpopulation was causing the world’s environmental problems

Three Mile Island

public opinion turned against building an additional nuclear power plant after an accident at the Three Mile Island power plant in Pennslyvania

Earth Day

reflected the nation’s growing concerns over air and water pollution and the destruction of the natural environment, including wildlife

“Earthrise”

showed the Earth as a small, fragile planet in the vast, lifeless vacuum of space; helped people gain new perspectives on the human conditions and their shared, finite environment

Wilderness Act

permanently set aside certain federal lands from commercial economic development in order to preserve them in their natural state

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

regulated and enforced federal programs and policies on air and water pollution, radiation issues, pesticides, and solid waste

Clean Air Act

regulated air emissions from both stationary and mobile sources and authorized the EPA to set standards to protect public health by regulating emissions of hazardous air pollutants

Clean Water Act

the common name for the Water Pollution Control Act Amendment of 1977

Superfund Act

cleaned up toxic waste from former industrial sites

Endangered Species Act

protected critically imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which wildlife depend

emissions

Congress first enacted standards for fuel economy due to the oil embargo, which resulted in more fuel-efficient American cars, meaning less harmful emissions

greenhouse gasses/climate change

less harmful emissions helped reduce the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that scientists blame for climate change

antinuclear movement

delayed construction or halted commitments to build new nuclear plants; pressured the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to enforce and strengthen the safety regulations for nuclear power plants