History of Environmental Policy: in The United States

History of
Environmental Policy
In the United States
• Policy- a formal set of general plans
and principles for addressing problems
and guiding decision making
• Environmental policy focuses on

protecting environmental quality,
protecting natural resources, and
making sure that these resources are
shared equally.
Tribal Era (17th Century and Earlier)
• Hunter-gatherers had a fairly small impact
on their environment
– Survived by collecting plants, hunting, fishing
and scavenging meat
– Exploited their environment to survive but
impact was limited and local
• Small population
• Low resource use per person
• Migration allowed environment to repair damage
• Lack of technology
Agricultural Revolution (17th-18th Century)
• Groups of people settled into communities to

domesticate animals and cultivate plants
• Early farmers had little impact on the
environment
– Reliance on man power
– Abandon old land, allow environment to restore itself
Frontier Era (18th-19th Century)
• Europeans settle in North America
– “Hostile and dangerous wilderness to be conquered
and managed for human use”
• Wild West Expansion

– Perception that the amount of land and natural
resources in the Western United States was endless
• Federal Government managed unsettled lands

– Encouraged expansion to rid the east coast of
crowding
Early 1800’s
• Due to expansion, natural resources
were overused and exploited
–Near extinction of the buffalo
• Need for policies to protect the

environment
–The first “environmental” laws
Industrial Revolution (Mid 1800’s)
• Turn from a dependence on renewable
sources of energy (burning wood) to
machine dependence on
non-renewable energy (fossil fuels)
• Large scale production of goods
• Development of cities
• Global Environmental Impact
Conservation Era (Late 1800’s-1960’s)
• The government and private groups tired to

protect more of the nation’s natural
resources and improve public health
• Federal Government responsible for
protecting public lands from resource
exploitation
• Theodore Roosevelt becomes President!
– President to set aside public land as wildlife
refuges, forest preserves, and national parks
Great Depression and World Wars
(1920’s-1960’s)
• Government purchased land from poor
landowners
• FDR established the Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC) put 2 million unemployed people
to work planting trees, developing and
maintaining parks, and building dams to
supply electricity and water
• Wars produced an increase in technology, such
as submarines which increased scientific
interest in the oceans
Environmental Era (1960’s-1970’s)
• Americans were better off economically,

but now living in dirtier conditions
• Rachel Carson published Silent Spring
– Documented the pollution of air, water,
and wildlife from pesticides such as DDT
– Quality of the environment matters to the
public
• Start of the Environmental Movement
– Increase in public awareness
1970’s
• Media attention, public concern, and

scientific research on environmental issues
grew
• Grassroots Movement
– Came from public concern who took issues to the
government and demanded change
• The public demanded environmental

policies… politicians reacted
1970’s
• Nixon is President
• Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
need to evaluate the impact of a project
that will significantly affect the
environment
– Make aware to the public
• Most of our Environmental Laws passed
• Environmental Protection Agency created

Environmental Protection Agency
• Regulate water quality, air pollution,
and solid waste
• Responsible for:
– conducting and evaluating research
– monitoring environmental quality
– setting and enforcing standards for pollution levels
– educate the public
– aid states in meeting federal standards
1980’s & 1990’s
• An Anti-environmental movement forms

to weaken or do away with many of the
environmental laws passed and to destroy
the political effectiveness of the
environmental movement
• Felt that laws imposed too great an

economic burden on business and
individuals
21st Century
• Environmental policy is defensive against the
anti-environmentalists
• For political reasons we have struggled to
sign/ratify international treaties addressing
environmental concerns such as Global
Warming
• Pressure on industry to conserve
– Automobile gas mileage standards
• Focus is on conserving energy, developing
renewable energy technologies and reducing
carbon emissions
What will
happen
next??

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History of

• Environmental policy focuses on

• Groups of people settled into communities to

• Wild West Expansion

• Federal Government managed unsettled lands

• Need for policies to protect the

• The government and private groups tired to

• Americans were better off economically,

• Media attention, public concern, and

• The public demanded environmental

• Most of our Environmental Laws passed

• Environmental Protection Agency created

• An Anti-environmental movement forms

• Felt that laws imposed too great an

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