Objective: We will analyze the need for and the creation of environmental regulations

Objective: We will analyze the need for and the creation of the environmental regulations
• What is the objective today?
– Can you put it in your own words?
• What are environmental regulations?
• Why would we need to create a law to protect the environment?
• Is the environment something that needs to be protected?

• Conservative
• Liberal
• Environment
• Which of these two do you believe would be in support of environmental protection? Why?

By: Dr. Suess
1971
Random House Books

• In 1962, Rachel Carson wrote a book titled
Silent Spring .
Why do you believe the book was titled Silent Spring?

• Silent Spring warned against pesticides
– Explain what a pesticide is to your neighbor
• Pesticides poisoned the very food they were intended to protect, and killed many birds and fish.

• Carson’s book was an early warning about the danger that human activity posed to the environment.

• On April 22, 1970, America celebrated the first Earth Day.
• Celebrated in San Francisco first
Why do you believe the Earth Day was started in San Francisco?

• Nearly every community in the nation hosts some type of environmentalawareness activity , and spotlighted such problems as pollution, toxic waste, and the earth’s dwindling resources .
What is the goal of Earth Day?
How does having a day help create awareness?

EPA
• In 1970, Nixon created the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).

• The EPA sets and enforces pollution standards, conducts environmental research, and assists in pollution control.
What is the goal of the EPA?
How does America justify the need for the EPA?
What would to the US if the EPA was not around?

• Energy Star
• Fuel Economy
– Better gas mileage = less pollution
– Gas guzzling Tax = more money for more gas
• Air Quality
– 12/31/11 – 1/5/12

• Drinking Water
– Nitrates in Tulare water basin (ABC 30 3/14/12)
• The study, ordered by the state Legislature, shows chemical fertilizers and livestock manure are the main source of nitrate contamination in groundwater for more than 1 million Californians in the Salinas Valley and parts of the Central Valley.
• Nitrates are found naturally in some foods, but scientists have linked high levels of nitrates to "blue baby syndrome," reproductive disorders and cancer. Infants who drink water that exceeds the nitrate standard could become seriously ill and die, according the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.

• During the 1970s, as America realized the drawbacks to heavy dependence on foreign oil , nuclear power seemed like an attractive alternative .

• the energy produced per amount of material consumed is the highest available
• costs are competitive with coal
• uranium, the source material, is abundant
• plutonium, a by-product of commercial nuclear plant operation, can also be used as a fuel
• the amount of waste produced is the least of any major energy production process

• However, nuclear wastes were dangerous to humans and the environment.
• Used fuel must be stored underground and underwater
• Long half-lifes – 220,000, 15.7 mil, 2 mil,
24,000 years

• On March 28, 1979, a nuclear reactor malfunctioned at a plant on Three Mile
Island , in Pennsylvania.

• Low-level radiation spread over the region.
• 100,000 residents were evacuated from the area.
• Rated a 5 on a 7 point scale
• Cost $1 Billion to clean

• As a result, the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission strengthened its safety standards and inspection procedures.
• What is required to America to continue to use Nuclear
Energy?
• Should we?

• Chernobyl – 1986
– Nuclear meltdown
– Explosion
• First 4 years – 350 registered abnormal births – (Farms)
– Level 7

• March 11, 2011
– Earthquake and Tsunami caused 3 reactors to go to full meltdown
– Level 7

• Today, scientists agree that human activity has contributed to the gradual warming of the earth’s atmosphere, posing serious dangers to plant and animal life, and the future of our planet.
- Is global warming something that people should be worried about?
- Do you believe there is any embellishment of the truth to make the problem seem worse than it is?
- What purpose would it serve to embellish?

• Carbon Dioxide release helps to keep heat in the atmosphere
• Raising water temp = melting ice
• Rising air temp = hotter and differing weather pattern
– More rain in dry areas, less rain in normal areas
– More deserts in sub tropics (our area)

• Solar Activity
• Cycles of the earth
• More clouds reflect heat
• Shift of the earth in orbit