Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Honors College at WKU Projects Spring 5-13-2011 A Series of Un-breathable Events: The leC an Air Act and the Transformation of Environmentalism in American Society Chelsea Kasten Western Kentucky University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Kasten, Chelsea, "A Series of Un-breathable Events: The leC an Air Act and the Transformation of Environmentalism in American Society" (2011). Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. Paper 306. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/306 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors College Capstone Experience/ Thesis Projects by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. A SERIES OF UN-BREATHABLE EVENTS: THE CLEAN AIR ACT AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF ENVIRONMENTALISM IN AMERICAN SOCIETY A Capstone Experience/ Thesis Project Project in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Arts with Honors College Graduate Distinction at Western Kentucky University By Chelsea E. Kasten ***** Western Kentucky University 2011 CE/T Committee: Approved by Dr. Patricia Minter, Advisor Dr. Ouida Meier ___________________________________ Advisor Professor Travis Wilson Department of History Copyright by Chelsea E. Kasten 2011 ABSTRACT Clean air legislation was first passed in the United States by Congress in 1955 and has since been amended in 1963, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1977 and 1990. The Clean Air Act was created to ensure that Americans were not being unnecessarily exposed to harmful air pollutants.