Activity 4.1 – US Environmental History and Major Regulations

The introduction of Chapter 2 of “Sustainability: A comprehensive foundation” discussed how in the early stages of immigration to North America, the colonists embraced this new land with all these resources without giving it a second thought. The colonist didn’t need to be careful with how much resources they were using because there was always more and more to be found. In the mid-18th century, Jared Elliot, who was a farmer, doctor, and minister, raised his concerns about how to better take care of the fields but his words didn’t seem to stick with other farmers. 

A couple of groups were formed that were successfully able to express their concerns to the public about how to better take care of the land not only used by farmers but also managing forests, the wastes from mining, and eventually human disease. These groups were called “the resource efficiency group, the transcendentalist movement, and organized industrial interest”. In accordance with the “resource efficiency” group, in the early 1800s, the impact of agricultural practices started to become more apparent and so did the need to promote less wasteful practices. Some known philosophers, like Thoreau, contributed to the transcendental movement. This movement influenced how society was able to view themselves in relation to nature. The industries had no motivation or interest in managing their emissions responsibly at the time. There weren’t many regulations they had to abide by and this caused the industries to not use the natural resources rationally. The industry, however, was making a huge impact on society by making goods and having available services.

A movement began to qualify certain terrain as national parks as an example to promote conservation of land. Frederick Law Olmsted, a landscape architect, believed that open spaces, like parks,  were key to improving human productivity. In 1872, the first national park was designated, three years after the construction of the transcontinental railroad. In 1916, the National Park Service was created and with that, 16 more parks were formed. This led to more states wanting national parks because they saw the impact of them and how valuable they are to society and the environment. 

Between 1920-1950, many people struggled financially which took away from the environmental issues which created mismanagement of many policies that allowed minor catastrophes like dust storms. There were poor air quality conditions that were accepted in America because of how industrialized the nation was. The research of risks from breathing in the air was at its beginning. This means that even though many people knew that exposure to chemicals was dangerous, they didn’t know how it would affect them. Some examples of hazards provided in the text include respiratory disease, diminished visibility, or watery eyes. Unfortunately, more catastrophic events like the Cuyahoga River Fire had to happen in order to open the eyes of society about how the environment was treated and how detrimental it was. These tragic environmental events were the reason why environmental policies were made that are still intact today like the National Environmental Policy Act and Environmental Protection Agency.

America has built a non-suitable environment that has changed the way of living compared to a century ago. Most people are driving everywhere instead of walking or biking which helps obesity. This created economic segregation as well because of how money was distributed between communities that could provide safe walkways or bike paths. Road runoff has polluted water and that affected water treatment plans which also affects water quality. This affects climate change and food production due to extreme weather like droughts.

I gathered information on major federal environmental laws enacted in the US from “Sustainability: A comprehensive foundation” by Theis and Tomkin and “Guide to Environmental Policy” by Russell and Fairfax and created a graphical timeline above.

References 

Theis, T., & Tomkin, J. (Eds). (2018). Sustainability: A comprehensive foundation. OpenStax CNX.  THEISandTOMKIN_Sustainability-a-Comprehensive-Foundation-45.1.pdf

Russell, E., & Fairfax, S. K. (2014). Guide to U.S. Environmental Policy (Links to an external site.).