Transcript Saving the Earth

Saving the Earth
Rachel Carson
• Wrote Silent Spring in 1962
– Increasing use of pesticides/DDT
– The cycle of it
– Outraged the chemical industry
– Noted as the person who began the focus on
environmental issues
– 1970 unofficial beginning of environmental
movement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls-JY74M2Ik
Government Steps in
• Environmental Protection Agency (1970)
–
–
–
–
Set pollution standards
Promoted research
Coordinated with state & local governments
Monitored other agencies with respect to their impact
on the environment
• Clean Air Act
– Establishes emissions standards
• Clean Water Act (1972)
– Restricted discharge of pollutants
• Endangered Species Act (1973)
– Saving threatened animal species
Consumer Movement
• “technologically advanced”
• Ralph Nader
– Lawyer from Connecticut
– Noticed high numbers of automobile fatalities
– Wrote Unsafe at Any Speed
• National Traffic & Motor Vehicle Safety Act (1966)
– Seat belts
– Door locks
– Safer fuel tanks
• Led to organizations regulating other products
•
http://www.cpsc.gov/