Environmental Awareness
"We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation."
- Theodore Roosevelt, May 13, 1908 |
The increase in pollution and attendant decline in animal life prompted activists to demand more investigation into the effects of chemicals. This impetus eventually formed the grassroots of modern environmentalism and provided a base for Rachel Carson's works.
Initial Solutions
Water Pollution 1948
+The Water Pollution Control Act 1948
close"...prepare comprehensive programs for eliminating or reducing the pollution of interstate waters and tributaries and improving the sanitary condition of surface and underground waters. During the development of such plans, due regard was to be given to improvements necessary to conserve waters for public water supplies, propagation of fish and aquatic life, recreational purposes, and agricultural and industrial uses..."
- The Water Pollution Control Act of 1948
- The Water Pollution Control Act of 1948
Air Pollution 1955
+Air Pollution Act - 1955
close"That in recognition of the dangers to the public health and welfare, injury to agricultural crops and livestock, damage to and deterioration of property, and hazards to air and ground transportation, from air pollution... primary responsibilities and rights of the States and local governments in controlling air pollution, to support and aid technical research to devise and develop methods of abating such pollution, and to provide Federal technical services and financial aid to State and local government air pollution control agencies..."
- The Air Pollution Control Act of 1955
- The Air Pollution Control Act of 1955
Delaney Clause 1958
+The Delaney Clause - 1958
close"The Delaney Clause is a part of the 1958 Food Additives Amendment... This clause governs regulation of pesticide residues in processed foods. It establishes that no residues from pesticides found to cause cancer in animals will be allowed as a food additive. This means that tolerance levels must be based only on the risk of carcinogenicity and that the benefits of the pesticide may not be considered."
- Rodney L. Holloway and Melissa Rowell, Texas Agricultural Extension Service
- Rodney L. Holloway and Melissa Rowell, Texas Agricultural Extension Service
Disappearance of Wildlife - Citizen Activism
"The potentially lethal impact of DDT on birds was first noted in the late 1950's when spraying to control the beetles that carry Dutch elm disease led to a slaughter of robins in Michigan and elsewhere. Researchers discovered that earthworms were accumulating the persistent pesticide and that the robins eating them were being poisoned. Other birds fell victim, too." - Paul R. Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin, and Darryl Wheye, DDT and Birds, 1988
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