This paper introduces and analyzes the concept of environmental protection, tracing its evolution from early public health concerns in American cities to the federal regulatory frameworks and grassroots movements of the twentieth century. The paper examines what environmental protection encompasses — from individual actions such as recycling to large-scale governmental policy — and argues that it is vital to human survival. It also addresses opposition to environmental regulation from business interests and those skeptical of human-caused environmental damage, and concludes that protecting the environment is essential for the well-being of present and future generations.
Environmental protection can take many forms. It can be administered by a large governmental agency such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), or it can consist of one person recycling their waste products and buying a more fuel-efficient vehicle. It can mean pollution control, cleaner water, safer industrial operations, reforesting deforested areas, and creating alternative forms of energy. It helps maintain a healthy planet and affects anything that eventually involves the world we live in. One environmental writer notes, "Often popular ideas that are grouped under the notion of environmental protection range from complex scientific theories about problems like acid rain to personal feelings for the rights of animals" (Petulla 6).
Environmental protection means saving the environment and maintaining a healthy standard of living that we can pass down to future generations, instead of using up the planet's resources and leaving nothing behind. Therefore, biking to work to save energy is a form of environmental protection, and so is cleaning up a toxic waste dump or picking up trash along a highway.
The environment and economy are tied together — there is no way to separate the two. In early American history, pioneers used natural resources, even abused them, and then moved on when those resources were depleted. Early gold rushes are an excellent example. The American West is dotted with empty ghost towns and abandoned mine tunnels that stand as a testament to the abuse of resources. When the gold was mined, the miners moved on to new territory, leaving the towns and mines empty.
Early environmental protection initially began in response to the filth that littered American streets long before sewers and septic systems were introduced. Public health and cleanliness were therefore at the root of the first environmental protection laws governing waste disposal and removal. Later, industry and an influx of people and horses added to the filth on the streets and in the air. Author Petulla describes how "Chicago's stockyards combined with eight railroads, a busy port, and heavy industry to assault its residents with smelly, cough-causing black smoke" (Petulla 21). By the mid-nineteenth century, American cities were beginning to see a connection between industrial and personal waste and disease, and the first environmental reports emerged urging cleanup for the welfare of the people. Thus, the first environmental protection attempts were grounded in public health and welfare.
This trend continued into the twentieth century, when women's organizations took up the plea for cleaner cities and better public health. Author Petulla notes:
"By 1910, hundreds of local women's organizations could mobilize hundreds of thousands of members on behalf of environmental legislation to protect the natural environment. Their day-to-day activities monitored the local environments in and around urban areas. The women's organizations' signal achievements established a solid tradition for environmental groups of the 1960s and 1970s" (Petulla 25).
The 1960s saw a rebirth of environmental activism. Air quality in American cities began to deteriorate, and industries faced few regulations preventing them from releasing chemicals and waste into the air, waterways, and landfills. Federal intervention did not begin in earnest until the 1970s, but several grassroots organizations grew during the 1960s and 1970s that urged Americans to think more carefully about protecting the environment and reducing pollution. Petulla notes that many of these organizations began at the local level: "But, more significantly, Americans found out their democratic institutions gave them a way to organize into groups, at first local, and lobby for their own environmental interests" (Petulla 37). The environmental protection movement today is therefore a blend of governmental agencies and regulations alongside environmental interest groups lobbying for change.
Environmental protection is important to society because it helps ensure our survival. As history shows, humans have a long record of over-utilizing the environment and then simply moving on to "greener pastures." The slash-and-burn agricultural practices still taking place in the Amazon basin illustrate this mentality. Millions of acres of rainforest have been destroyed, and the jungle cannot rejuvenate itself fast enough to compensate. Yet the practice continues. As one writer states, "Environmental protection is an important societal goal, but it will not be achieved if existing policies and institutional arrangements are left in place" (Adler 653). Many developing countries do not fully understand the need for environmental protection, while others simply lack the funds required for environmental cleanup and protection.
In addition, many people do not see the need for environmental protection despite all the predictions and warnings. Even within the United States, some states lag far behind others in regulating business and industry. One writer observes, "There is growing evidence that some states lead in economic growth and environmental protection, while other states lag behind in both" (Graham). These states and individuals neither see nor understand the urgent need for environmental protection and therefore permit infractions and pollution that can ultimately harm everyone, not just their own citizens. A group of authors notes that "one of the most serious threats to rivers, lakes, and estuaries, for example, is the nutrients flowing directly from huge new feeding operations for hogs, chickens, and turkeys, and indirectly from farm fields where animal wastes are spread as fertilizer" (Howes, John, and Minard). For some, industry remains a higher priority than the environment.
As the global warming crisis indicates, humans have a distinct impact on the planet's environment — so much so that they may alter the overall weather and temperature of the Earth. This could lead to widespread flooding, changes in current ecosystems, and could ultimately result in widespread loss of life and the extinction of many species if temperatures continue to rise unchecked. Global warming is just one area that illustrates how important environmental protection is. Deforestation, the extinction of plants and animals, overfishing of the world's oceans, and air and water pollution are additional areas that must be addressed to ensure the continued survival of the environment and of humanity itself.
"Examines business and ideological objections"
"Links daily life and survival to environmental health"
Environmental protection began as a public health and cleanliness movement, and it has spread to encompass anything that affects our environment on Earth. Environmental protection is vital to our survival and our well-being. Ignoring it is a dangerous choice that can ultimately affect everyone on the planet. It is time for America — and the world — to take responsibility for protecting and nurturing the planet rather than systematically destroying ecosystems and the natural world. Environmental protection has its roots in health and well-being, and we should take our cue from that history by caring for the health and well-being of the Earth today and in the future.
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