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Environmental History
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Pulic Health Service
US Congress funds two-year Public Health Service study on air pollution from cars. -
Clean Water Act
First Clean Water Act passes US Congress -
JFK says
US President John. F. Kennedy tells the United Nations: "Every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when this planet may no longer be habitable .. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us." -
You Can't Kill Deer
Ohio canceled the deer hunting season due to a scarcity of deer, leading to the adoption nationwide of "buck laws," which promote the hunting of bucks only. -
Ethyl
Motors and Standard Oil of New Jersey (Exxon) abandon Ethyl Corp., selling it to Albemarle Paper Co. in $200 million leveraged buyout which the corporations themselves finance. Ethyl is the main manufacturer of leaded gasoline (or, more precisely, tetra-ethyl lead and similar additives). Eight years later, GM will abandon leaded gasoline. There has been speculation about GM's rationale for dumping Ethyl, but until Ethyl's private documents become public, few will know whether GM was motivated by -
Oil Slick is Shroud for Birds
“Oil Slick is Shroud for Birds” (Washington Post) Oil pollution at sea is a serious issue. Oil tankers at sea, “the dumping of old crankcase oil and the pumping of oily water from bilges” are major causes of the oil pollution. The most widespread cause of death among sea birds is from oil. Insulating air pockets are destroyed which is s a cause of drowning. The seriousness of this issue has been recognized.. Whilte it is illegal to dump oil within 50 miles of a coastline, ships continue to -
No More Test
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty between U.S. and U.S.S.R. (Russia) stops above ground tests of nuclear weapons -
Clean Air Act
Senate Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution created. US Congress passes Clean Air Act with $95 million for study and cleanup efforts at local, state and federal level. See former Sen. Edmund S. Muskie's article, "The Clean Air Act: A Commitment to Public Health." -
National Wilderness Preservation System
Congress creates National Wilderness Preservation System "to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness." The system initially contained 9.1 million acres of wild lands, but by 2001 there were about 90 million acres of wilderness preserved in the United States. Text of the Act is available from Wilderness System web page. A history is also available from the Wilderness Society. -
Citizens for Clean Air
Hazel Henderson organizes Citizens for Clean Air in New York. -
Water Quality Act
Congress passes Water Quality Act setting standards for states. -
US Public Health Service
US Public Health Serivce publishes report "Protecting the Health of Eighty Million Americans" stating that old problems of worker safety and health were not solved and new technological challenges were complex. The report leads to a reorganization of the PHS and the establishment of OSHA in 1970. -
Meltdown
Fermi No. 1 fast metal breeder nuclear reactor in Detroit, Michigan loses coolant and partially melts down. -
Animal Welfare Act
conditions at facilities that sold impounded dogs and cats to research produces public outrage and leads to the passage of the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act, expanded into the present Animal Welfare Act in 1971. (M. Clifton) -
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Defense Fund established -
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is founded as the Don't Make A Wave Committee, a Quaker peace group, which becomes Greenpeace in 1971 after several years of disrupting nuclear tests in the South Pacific. -
RFK
Robert F. Kennedy speaks at the University of Kansas -
MLK Jr. assassinated
Martin Luther King assassinated supporting Memphis TN sanitation workers strike. for environmental and economic justice. -
Oil Blowout
Santa Barbara oil well blowout off the Santa Barbara coast of California spills 235,000 gallons of oil and covers 30 miles of beach with tar. Well is capped Feb. 8 -
Friends of Earth
Friends of the Earth founded.
