Environmental Disasters

Environmental Disasters Activity Activity Instruction In this activity, you will learn about the environmental movement and the disasters that inspired it. Then, write a postcard, from the perspective of an activist, to a public official that summarizes an environmental disaster and advocates for federal policy changes. Vocabulary industrialization: the transformation, due to technological advancements, from an agricultural or artisan-based economy to an economy built on large industries. Superfund: a federal fund to clean up toxic waste. radioactive waste: a by-product of the use of nuclear materials that is dangerous to human and animal health. Background Information The modern environmental movement began in earnest during the 1960s. The 1962 publication of Silent Spring by Rachael Carson is often cited as the event that began the movement. Her book raised the issue of the effects of the long-term use of such pesticides as DDT. Then in 1964 the Wilderness Act, an early example of an attempt to protect certain lands from industrial pollution, was passed. In 1970, the U.S. government created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has remained the most important federally-run environmental organization. Read the first article titled "Focus on the Environment," in Sources. Select one of the disasters discussed in the article: the Love Canal disaster, the Santa Barbara oil spill, the Three Mile Island accident, or the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Learn more about the disaster you chose by reading the corresponding article in Sources. Select or draw an image that captures the event for the front of your postcard. Write your letter on the back of the picture you selected or drew. a. Provide some context as to who you are; for example, a concerned citizen, a person involved in the accident, a parent or child. b. Provide a brief explanation of how the event occurred. c. Include a message asking this public official to respond and or react to the incident. d. Include suggestions for how the public official could respond or remedy the situation. Source Reference Focus on the Environment The destruction of the environment to meet the demands of American industry is a story that goes back long before the modern period. During the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th century, even cities fairly remote from the nation's industrial core, such as Butte, Montana, experienced rapid growth both in terms of population and environmental calamities, such as horrible smog. The economic and manufacturing boom of the post-World War II era only intensified the output of pollution, as the exhaust from the omnipresent automobile added to that produced by the nation's booming industries to pollute not only the air, but also the water and the land itself. Clean Air and Water Though such conservationist groups as the Sierra Club have been in existence since the late 19th century, it was not until the 1960s that a grassroots environmental movement began to take shape and exert the type of influence necessary to create legislation to regulate industrial pollution and protect the American natural environment. In 1962, marine biologist Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, which brought the long-term impact of the use of pesticides such as DDT to the American consciousness. In addition, the consumption of wilderness resources was reshaping the landscape. By 1964, congress passed the Wilderness Act, which protected certain lands from industrial exploitation. However, it quickly became clear that simply conserving natural areas was insufficient to stem the tide of the negative impact of contemporary life on the places where people actually lived. In 1969, the consequences of America's thirst for crude oil to fuel modern life were unavoidable, as events such as the oil spill off the picturesque coast of Santa Barbara, California, and the sight of Ohio's polluted Cuyahoga River catching on fire left an indelible impression. As a result of the rise in public awareness, congress began to take their regulatory role seriously, with the passage of a series of bills including the National Environmental Policy Act (1969), the Clean Air Act (1970), the Clean Water Act (1972), and the Endangered Species Act (1973). These laws brought environmental regulation to many areas of American life, from the preservation of animals and plants to the mitigation of pollution in automobiles through the advent of catalytic converters, unleaded fuel, and limits on the amount of pollution contained in exhaust. On April 22, 1970, Earth Day, the brainchild of U.S. senator Gaylord Nelson (D-WI), gave Americans a reason to think about the environment at least once a year, and the growing movement revitalized the Sierra Club and such other conservationist groups as the Nature Conservancy, while spawning more radical environmentalist groups such as Greenpeace, who advocated more direct action to stop environmental destruction. Media and the Environment By the 1970s, environmental causes attracted both celebrities and typical Americans alike. On television, iconic environmental images, such as actor Iron Eyes Cody (who made a career of playing Native Americans, though he was not one) playing an Indian shedding a tear over a polluted America, and Woodsy Owl (whose "Give a hoot, don't pollute" slogan was aimed at educating children about the environment) were everywhere. However, the environmental catastrophes that were the legacy of the postwar industrial boom kept on happening. In 1978, the residents of Love Canal, New York, found toxic waste deposited during the 1940s–1950s bubbling up in their yards. This led to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program to clean up toxic sites. The following year, a partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power facility in Pennsylvania happened just two weeks after the release of the motion picture The China Syndrome, vividly portraying to Americans just how real those fears might be. Musicians reacted by staging the No Nukes concert, which was later released as a documentary film and featured nearly every consequential musician of the period. By 1989, another oil spill in a pristine wilderness area— this time caused by the running aground of the Exxon Valdez tanker in Alaska's Prince William Sound—reminded Americans of the cost of their addiction to the automobile. Oil and the Environment Crude oil extraction has caused many of the most notable environmental catastrophes. However, the dependence on the automobile has resulted in the United States consuming 23% of the world's oil production, yet it produces only 10% of the global supply. Both the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and the Exxon Valdez disaster 20 years later, as well as the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, pointed out the hazards associated with the extraction and transportation of oil. All resulted in the deaths of thousands of birds and other marine animals, and resulted in long-term damage to their ecosystems. The long-term effects of such oil spills may be even more catastrophic, as they damage marine habitats and kill the plankton that many fish rely upon for food. Debate still rages in the United States over the proper response to these disasters. Many conservatives favor increased oil drilling in the United States in order to reduce the dependence on foreign oil, yet liberals often point to these disasters as evidence of the shortsightedness of such an approach, favoring the development of alternative, cleaner energy sources to replace petroleum. A Health Food Culture Emerges Many children of the counterculture of the 1960s brought their environmental beliefs home with them in the form of the movement to eat more natural foods. By the 1970s, health food stores began appearing across the nation to cater to the growing desire to eat more naturally. Granola, which many had produced as a natural alternative to mass-produced breakfast cereals, was embraced by manufacturers, who began producing it themselves. Large food corporations and fast food restaurants, however, continued to push for high crop yields at lower prices. As a result, pesticide use increased and, during the 1990s, crops enhanced with genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) were introduced into the food supply. This has caused the movement for organic foods, which are certified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be pesticide and GMO-free, to gain momentum as well. Steven L. Danver Source Reference Love Canal Disaster Love Canal was a hazardous waste site in Niagara Falls, New York. Discovered in the mid-to-late 1970s, the site was highly publicized and focused national attention on what had become of the by-products of industrialization. Origins Between the years 1942 and 1953, Hooker Chemical and Plastics Corporation (now Occidental Chemical Corporation) disposed of its hazardous waste in an abandoned canal project at Niagara Falls. Government documents estimate that approximately 21,000 tons of waste were placed in the area. In 1953, Hooker covered the canal with dirt and deeded the property to a New York school district for $1. The deed attempted to limit Hooker's future liability for its past activities at the property. Disaster and Public Reaction A housing development and schools were built in the area after the transfer occurred. The residents knew about the dump. They didn't know about the dangers it could pose. A record amount of rainfall washed away some of the dirt, exposing corroded leaking barrels. Puddles of chemicals developed in backyards, basements, and on the school playground. Children playing outside received chemical burns on their hands and faces. Women had miscarriages and gave birth to babies with birth defects. Many developed unusual illnesses and diseases. One woman, Lois Gibbs, set the wheels in motion. She had moved to the community in 1974 with her husband and one-year-old son.

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