8.13: The Environment and Natural Resources

8.13: Explain how and why policies related to the environment developed and changed from 1968 to 1980.

In the last set of notes, we talked about youth culture in the United States and now, we’re going to be moving on to a discussion about the environment.

Oil

Throughout the 20th century, there were a lot of natural resources that the United States relied on, the most important of which being oil. However, most of the oil in the world came from the Middle East. In 1973, Arab nations formed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to control the prices of oil they were exporting. This led to a large reduction in the amount of oil being exported to the U.S. because of their dislike of the U.S. This then caused fuel prices to rise. As a result, Americans realized that they needed to find alternative fuel sources so they wouldn’t be dependent on oil.

Another reason the United States wanted to find alternative energy sources was because of oil spills. In 1969, the Santa Barbara oil spill had killed thousands of animals along the California coastline. 20 years later, the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska caused billions in damages in 1989.

Because of these reasons, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act was passed in 1975 to set corporate standards for gas mileage. Manufacturers who failed to meet these standards were fined.

Alternative Sources of Power

Despite the United States wanting to find alternative sources of energy, most of their options at the time weren’t as good as oil

  • Solar Power: Solar panels were very expensive and were also vulnerable to clouds blocking the sun

  • Hydropower: While this was more reliable, there weren’t a lot of options for dams to be built on

  • Wind Power: Not a lot of people lived in places where wind turbines could be built because wind turbines needed a lot of land and not a lot of people wanted to live near them

  • Coal: While coal had worked for decades in the past and was cheap, it polluted the environment and was dirty

  • Nuclear Power: While it produced no greenhouse gases, many people feared nuclear meltdowns and malfunctions. In March of 1979, a reactor at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg in Pennsylvania nearly melted down and caused thousands of people to evacuate. In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant failed and released large amounts of radiation into the environment, causing many deaths and making its surroundings unlivable.

The Environmental Movement

In addition to looking for new energy sources, there was a large movement for improving the environment in the Untied States. For example, Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, a book about how humans were poisoning the environment, especially with the use of DDT pesticides, and were causing a silent spring (killing the birds around them, causing there to be no spring birdsong). Additionally, in 1969, the Cuyahoga River caught fire due to the massive amounts of pollution flowing down its waters.

This led to some legislation being passed to clean up the environment. In 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated in April and the Clean Air Act was passed. Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency was created to manage pollution control programs, control pesticides, and oversee the regulation of industries. In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. Later, in 1980, Superfund was created to clean up sites contaminated with dangerous substances.