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https://theconversation.com/the-us-used-to-be-really-dirty-environmental-cleanup-laws-have-made-a-huge-difference-271277>
"Growing up in the 1970s, I took for granted the trash piles along the highway,
tires washed up on beaches, and smog fouling city air. The famed “Crying
Indian” commercial of 1971 became a symbol of widespread environmental damage
across the United States.
That’s why the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, energized the nation. In the
largest single-day public demonstration in U.S. history, roughly 10% of the
population took to the streets to shout together: “Enough is enough!”
Republican and Democratic politicians alike listened. Over the decade that
followed, all the nation’s foundational environmental laws were passed with
strong bipartisan support – the
Clean Air Act,
Clean Water Act,
Endangered
Species Act and more.
These laws are taking a beating at the moment, including from the Environmental
Protection Agency – the federal government agency created in 1970 to protect
the environment. The agency’s own leader, Lee Zeldin, boasted of “driving a
dagger straight into the heart” of environmental regulations. President Donald
Trump regularly derides environmental laws as job killers and government
overreach.
But the conditions that made these laws necessary have largely been forgotten.
This environmental amnesia allows critics to focus entirely on costs while
ignoring the laws’ very real benefits and achievements.
I’m an environmental law professor, so I was excited to learn recently about
the Documerica project, courtesy of a wonderful article by writer Gideon Leek.
It shows in clear photographic evidence how dirty the U.S. used to be and wakes
people up to how much better the environment is today."
Via Griff Ferrell and Christoph S.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
