1864-Congress passes legislation making Yosemite Valley a state park (CA)
1872-Congress passes legislation making Yellowstone. It is the world's first official National Park.
1876-Appalachian Mountain Club founded
1886-Audubon Society created
1890-Congress passes legislation making Sequoia National Park (CA)
1891-Congress passes the Forest Reserve Act, which allows the President to make "forest reserves," and this eventually led to the creation of the National Forest System.
1899-The Rivers and Harbors Act is passed, saying that throwing trash or refuse into “navigable waters” is illegal, and that doing so could result in a $2500 fine and a one year prison term.
1900-The Lacey Act is passed and it stops the importation of birds in areas where birds are endangered. It was an act that attempted to stop killing birds for their feathers to be used in women’s hats.
1900s-First air pollution control device and first electric refrigerator made.
1900- The wild buffalo population is at less than 40. Most of the 30 million that were around 100 years prior were killed in an attempt to force Indians out of their land.
1902-Congress creates the Bureau of Reclamation to use money from public land sales to build dams and irrigation systems in the West.
1903-Theodore Roosevelt creates National Bird Preserve, which leads to the creation of the Wildlife Refuge System. His administration went on to create 53 other wildlife refuges and 42 million acres of national forests.
1903-Smoke emissions are limited in St. Louis.
1904-H.E. Willsie and John Boyle create a solar power plant in St. Louis and eventually made a system that did not have the traditional flaws associated with solar energy.
1905-National Audubon Society created
1908-A Swedish chemist concludes that coal and petroleum are creating a greenhouse effect that is causing global warming. However, he thought global warming was a good thing.
1910-The Lakeview Gusher started to emit crude oil in California's San Joaquin Valley. It spewed oil for a year and a half, totaling more than 9.4 million barrels of oil. Half of it was captured and used, while the rest polluted rivers, farm land, air, and other bodies of water.
1913-Congress passes legislation allowing a dam to be built in Hetch Hetchy Valley, in Yosemite.
1916-National Park Service founded.
1920s-Kerosene and fuel oil start to replace wood in some uses, commercial transportation and residential.
1924-National Coast Anti Pollution League is created as a result of oil and sewage pollution.
1934-Dust bowl storms begin (Midwest states)
1935-The Wilderness Society is founded as a result of the "emergency" that was all of the highways that were being built. The people in this group knew that it would make for problems in the future.
1937-Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act is passed, making a tax on arms and ammunition and using the money for wildlife management and inquiries.
1939-St. Louis Smog Episode occurs, when smog lasts for a week and lanterns are needed during the day for a whole week.
1941-St. Louis creates the first ordinance in the U.S. that strictly controls smoke emissions.
1948-In Dorona, Pennsylvania there was an "atmospheric inversion." The town was under a gas cloud that was emitted from the Donora Zinc Works. 20 people died, and the government started studying air pollution, leading to the Air Pollution Control Act (1955). There are similar episodes in London, New York, and LA.
1952-4000 people die in one of the London “killer fogs.”
1954-A Japanese fisherman is killed in Bikini during nuclear tests that prove to be twice as powerful as expected. Radioactivity spread through the Pacific Ocean and up the foodchain. It was realized that testing at one place would affect places far away. 10,000 fishermen were exposed to radiation.
1955-The government decided not to build a dam in Dinosaur National Monument after a lot of public outcry. The Wilderness Bill was then passed.
1955-The first international air pollution conference is held as a result of the smog episodes.
1955-Air Pollution Control Act passed
1956-Water Pollution Control Act passed
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3 comments:
Nice detail, and pretty helpful. However, you did go far past WW2, and this seems to focus completely on the US rather than the entire world.
Once again Areeb beat me to it. I agree that it is important to talk about the US, one of the top producers of pollution, but how did Europe etc. impact it? Also, don't you think St. Louis is pretty specific?
Great depth of information. The St. Louis parts and the Japanese fisherman anecdote were particularly interesting. Also, the "Lacey Act" was a nice inclusion. I'd like to know more about environmentalism outside of the US though, and I'm sure I'll get to here more in your presentation. I'd especially like more info on the Swedish chemist and petroleum bit.
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