Activity 4.1 – US Environmental History and Major Regulations

 In the Western Hemisphere, colonizers are sailing west to settle and exploit resources that were unavailable and unknown to the general population of the Eastern Hemisphere for the first time. Upon arriving and exploring the coast of a new continent, many colonizers consumed resources without any after thought on nursing their current exploited land and instead relocated to continue to consume and never reproduce. Jared Elliot created literature works in the 18th century that documented farming methods to address colonizers exhausting land resources then moving to other plots of land instead of replenishing them. Elliot summarized the wastefulness of the settlers, “... when they had worn out one piece they cleared another, without any concern to amend their Land.”. There is no evidence to show that Elliot’s work had any impact, but would soon help the urbanization of American cities on the east coast that would begin in the mid-19th century. (Theis & Tomkin, 2018)

The after effects of reckless resource consumption left the nation’s producers and consumers worried of lower crop yields due to soil erosion and infertility. These well placed fears helped create conservation communities who collaborated and tested multiple ways to replenish resources and increase their crop yield output. These scientific findings led to sustainable farming and expanded to other agriculture career fields and studies, including timber and mining. At the same time a new movement, The Transcendental Movement, was embracing idealism and rejecting materialism which focused on appreciating their deity’s creations, especially nature. This appreciation for nature being adjacent and a form of communication to their god, influenced Transcendentalism to strive to teach others to understand, and protect their environments.

With human-caused environmental damage and health emergencies that occurred in Pennsylvania due to Zinc smelting in the mid 1950’s, American societies en masse quickly learned the dangers of the popular mindset that human ingenuity would overcome nature. The result of uncontrolled emissions resulted in multiple deaths, and common occurrences of serious respiratory illnesses, citizens could easily feel the effects of their contaminated environment. Furthermore, the communities' environments were directly impacted by smog from uncontrolled emissions, or burning rivers caused by chemicals in their water, and hindered vegetation from leaking chemicals once buried in their communities. This is the result of reckless disposal, or short-term risk management with a lack of care and thought for their future community.

The documentation of their society’s reckless risk management birthed our nation’s strongest general consensus of environmentally aware citizens who pursued scientific facts and policy making to protect our general health to this day. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, documented the damage caused by DDT, a widely used pesticide, and her research of how it affects animals who consume vegetation treated with DDT and how that can likely be occurring to humans as well. This led to the general population demanding policy makers to pass justified environmental laws and policies to nurse damaged environments. Unfortunately this led to industry leaders who lobbied and ran advertising campaigns to misinform and counterattack regulations placed on them instilling fear into Americans on how regulations are stifling the economy and risk losing employment opportunities domestically.

Timeline created using "Sustainability: A comprehensive foundation" by Theis, T., & Tomkin, J. (2018) detailing major legislation regulating industries that are possibly creating environmental and health concerns in the United States.

Theis, T., & Tomkin, J. (Eds). (2018). Sustainability: A comprehensive foundation. OpenStax CNX