Environmental Protection Agency: Difference between revisions

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[[File: Environmental Protection Agency logo.png]]
[[File: Environmental Protection Agency logo.png]]


http://www.epa.gov/


* http://www.epa.gov/


='''The EPA'''=
 


[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:US_Environmental_Protection_Agency <big>'''Protecting 'the Commons''''</big>]


:https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/National_Environmental_Policy_Act
'''Question: When/Where/How/Why was the US Environmental Protection Agency created? Where did the environmental protection vision come from?'''
 
The EPA, its founding and its go-forward agenda, came from the initiatives and demands of the '''[[Environmental movement]]'''
 
 
Back in the day, we used to say "people power" would act to bring about changes that were needed... this was in the early years of the [https://greenpolicy360.net/images/1969_beginnings_of_the_modern_environmental_movement.pdf '''modern environmental movement''']... We believed that our voices, joined together across our country and led by the energy and hopes of young people, could be a political force for protection of our communities, health, and our common future -- our land, air, water... food, health, well-being.
 
 
[[File:Goodall on the power of the young.png]]
 
"Every day is Earth Day"
 
 
And so it came to be... idealism joined with realism and 'vision became reality'.
 
In the 1960s and 70s a foundation was built, and now we, in the US and the world, are attempting to continue to build and construct, to put it plainly, a better world.
 
We can say we are a '''[[Generation Green]]''' in progress...
 
 
Read the story that follows about the EPA start-up generation, how it happened, how visionary political representatives put ideas into action and the political voice and pressure of a political movement pushed a president to sign the Congressionally proposed, drafted and passed legislation.
 
 
'''GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: [[Environmental protection]] is at the heart of our agenda and a 360 call to action


:https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/The_Commons


: <big><big><big>'''''Protecting the Planet, Protecting Home'''''</big></big></big>


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: [[File:Earth Day Flag.png]]


'''Green Infrastructure Modeling Toolkit'''


* https://www.epa.gov/water-research/green-infrastructure-modeling-toolkit


='''The EPA'''=
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'''Green Infrastructure Wizard'''
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:US_Environmental_Protection_Agency <big>'''Protecting 'the Commons''''</big>]


* https://cfpub.epa.gov/giwiz/
:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/National_Environmental_Policy_Act National Environmental Policy Act]


* https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-11/documents/giwiz_fact_sheet_final103116.pdf
:* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/The_Commons




'''Watershed Management Optimization Tool'''
<big>'''Looking back to the beginnings of the EPA'''</big>


* https://www.epa.gov/exposure-assessment-models/wmost


* https://www.epa.gov/water-research/watershed-management-optimization-support-tool-fact-sheet
GreenPolicy360 Founder/Siterunner: In his rumpled suits and quiet way a man named George E. Brown moved to form coalitions few thought could be formed and garnered support for the first set of U.S. Congressional acts that served as foundation legislation for decades of green progress.  




'''Visualizing Ecosystems for Land Management Assessment'''
I was fortunate, as a student who met the new Congressman in the mid-1960s to then go on to see him in action over three decades. Let's begin with some memories of Earth Day and then the EPA.


* https://www.epa.gov/water-research/visualizing-ecosystem-land-management-assessments-velma-model-20
[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Earth_Day_Memories_on_the_50th_Anniversary '''The First Earth Day: Personal Memories''']


* https://www.epa.gov/water-research/velma-v20-fact-sheet


[[George E. Brown Jr]], Congressman from East Los Angeles and your GreenPolicy360 Siterunner's friend/mentor and colleague. Please take time to click here on George's page, and revisit some highlights over the years --


'''Storm Water Management Model'''
:* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/George_E._Brown_Jr


* https://www.epa.gov/water-research/storm-water-management-model-swmm


* https://www.epa.gov/water-research/storm-water-management-model-fact-sheet
George's lobbying Senator Nelson for a 'teach-in' that came to be known in 1970 as the first "Earth Day" also came about as George lobbied to create an Environmental Protection Agency. Congressman Brown was a mover-and-shaker, although he still goes under radar for the most part, even as he was a central figure in helping create the green movement and, as a 'big science' leader in Congress, a visionary and foundational green environmental agenda.


EPA's Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) is used throughout the world for planning, analysis and design related to stormwater runoff, combined and sanitary sewers, and other drainage systems in urban areas. There are many additional applications for drainage systems in non-urban areas.
George's work advanced environmental air quality and clean air legislation. He introduced the nation's first bill to ban lead in gasoline and was at the forefront of the Clean Air Act. He attacked Los Angeles smog, some of the worst air quality of any city in the world at the time and the air standards that came out of California became models worldwide. He succeeded in clean air and water efforts, though rarely given credit given his quiet approach to accomplishing big picture goals.  


&nbsp;


'''National Stormwater Calculator'''
[[File:Env policy laws US 'the beginning' of env era.jpg]]


* https://www.epa.gov/water-research/national-stormwater-calculator


* https://www.epa.gov/water-research/stormwater-calculator-identifying-green-infrastructure-solutions


* [https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/P100HD4I.TXT?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=2011+Thru+2015&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5Czyfiles%5CIndex%20Data%5C11thru15%5CTxt%5C00000008%5CP100HD4I.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=hpfr&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=1&SeekPage=x&ZyPURL Document Display]
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/mw/images/EPA_History_Xin_Liu-2010.pdf <big>'''EPA History'''</big>]




________________________________________________________
George E Brown was a key player in legislation founding the Environmental Protection Agency. 


As the LA Times noted (without pomp or circumstance) in [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jul-17-mn-56747-story.html '''the Congressman's obituary in 1999''']: "He championed the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency". The creation of the EPA was in many ways Congressman George Brown's vision achieved..."




<big>'''National Service Center for Environmental Publications'''</big>
The founding of the EPA was based on new realizations of science and the environment. The vision of the "Whole Earth" that began with unprecedented Apollo photos on the cover of Life magazine in January 1969 led to a coming together of education, students 'teach-ins', scientific space missions studying earth systems for the first time, and popular demands for environmental protections.


A leader and a chairperson on the House science committee for over 30 years, George legislatively engineered an array of science efforts, including one that greens look to as prescient -- climate science.


* https://www.epa.gov/nscep


: '''Search, retrieve, download, print, and order EPA technical, scientific, and educational materials from this site –- free of charge'''
[[File:George Brown, Sci Com't.jpg]]




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When Congressman Brown drafted originating legislation establishing a '''national climate change research program''' via the [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:US_Public_Law_95-367.png National Climate Program Act of 1978], the scientific community and nation were just beginning to awaken to a new national security threat. I remember his concern, our concern. He was trained as a scientist, an engineer, with an ability to see facts and data sets in a way others could not.


Representative Brown was out in front of "Big Science". In his decades on the House Science, Space & Technology Committee, he worked to expand the reach of science. He knew that [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:You_can_manage_only_what_you_can_measure_Dr_David_Crisp,_OCO-2,_June_2014_m.jpg  good data enabled good policy decisions]. He pressed for first-generation earth science satellites and ongoing earth monitoring missions and data sharing....


<big>'''US Environmental Protection Agency'''</big>


<big>Updates / After the election of Donald Trump: Deregulation and Deconstruction</big>


<big>Core Mission of the EPA, a radical shift in priorities after November 2016</big>


[[File:Memories of Big Science advocates in the US Congress.jpg]]


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[[File:Scott pruitt epa.jpg]]
<big>'''Thirty plus years setting the agenda for visionary science in the House of Representatives'''</big>


Rep. George E. Brown, an activist member and for many years chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology


<big><big>'''Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the US EPA, Resigns'''</big></big>
* https://www.congress.gov/member/george-brown/B000918 (1963-1999)


[[File:Pruitt serves letter.jpg]]
* https://science.house.gov/


:('''''Pink tinting added above by Josh Marshall / via [https://talkingpointsmemo.com/search/pruitt TPM]''''')
* https://science.house.gov/about/history-and-jurisdiction




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''Via Wikipedia / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Brown_Jr.''


''Brown was known as a champion for science. He left behind a deep and expansive legacy that has shaped science and science policy in America. Among some of his many accomplishments during his service on the House Science Committee:''


<big><big>'''''The Last Act'''''</big></big>
• ''Established the first federal climate change research program in the [https://www.congress.gov/bill/95th-congress/house-bill/06669 Federal Climate Program Act of 1978]''
   
• ''Established the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Science_and_Technology_Policy Office of Science and Technology Policy]''
   
• ''Established the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Environmental_Protection_Agency Environmental Protection Agency]''


<big>'''''Pruitt seeks to limit EPA's authority to block water pollution permits'''''</big>


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''The proposed regulation would likely be the most significant change to how the EPA enforces the Clean Water Act’s restrictions on dredging or filling waterways in four decades...''


* http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/394381-epa-to-seek-to-limit-its-authority-to-block-water-pollution-permits
:[http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-20/world-pollution-deadlier-than-wars-disasters-hunger/9069776 <big><big>'''Pollute Me, Not'''</big></big>]


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Pollution


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Pollution 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Water_Pollution 


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Externalities


[[File:Pruitt in the news daily.png]]


''Too many to count ...essential reasons why environmental protection regulations exist and need to expand around the world'' --
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_protection


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Protection


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* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Laws




<big><big><big>'''''US Environmental Protection Agency Updates'''''</big></big></big>


'''SJS/GreenPolicy Siterunner:'''


* “@EPAScottPruitt is the most corrupt administrator in the @EPA’s history.”
[http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Env_policy_laws_US_'the_beginning'_of_env_era.jpg @GreenPolicy360, ''' Looking back at 'The beginning of the modern environmental era' ''']


''A demoralized workforce watching as its agency is dismantled by the very people charged to lead it: That is the grim state of affairs depicted by John J. O’Grady, a longtime employee in the Chicago field office of the Environmental Protection Agency, which is tasked with protecting the nation’s air and water, while preventing the exposure of citizens to harmful chemicals. The agency is doing none of that, in O’Grady’s telling, with career officials watching in dismay as EPA administrator Scott Pruitt seemingly lurches from one scandal to another while doing the bidding of oil barons and the chemical lobby.''
Foundational environmental laws of the 1960s/70s:


''“Morale is not good,” O’Grady said of the agency’s 14,000 employees. “It’s so low, you need a ladder to get out of the gutter.”''     
''Unprecedented environmental protection, a vision that began a process that continues to this day...  


''O’Grady, an EPA engineer who is also a chapter leader in the American Federation of Government Employees, a public sector union, made his remarks in an on-the-record breakfast with journalists at the National Press Club, in Washington, D.C. Nearby, a television screen was tuned to CNN, where an anchor discussed Pruitt’s most recent alleged transgression: According to a Washington Post report published that morning, Pruitt had his most influential aide urging Republican donors to hire his wife Marlyn.''
''Green, environmental public policies, a foundation on which to build sustainable quality of life...  




* https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/judge-orders-epa-to-produce-science-behind-pruitts-warming-claims/
'''''Water quality act
http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3456400109/water-quality-act-1965.html


'''''Air quality act
http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3197&context=lcp


'''''National environmental policy act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Environmental_Policy_Act


<big>'''''Judge Orders EPA to Produce Science'''''</big>]
'''''Clean air act (extended 1970)
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-84/pdf/STATUTE-84-Pg1676.pdf
: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_(United_States)


'''''Occupational safety and health act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_Safety_and_Health_Act


''Via E&E News-Scientific American''
'''''Consumer product safety act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Product_Safety_Act


''June 5, 2018 / Freedom of Information Request To Be Acted Upon''
'''''Federal insecticide, fungicide and rodenticide act
http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/lfra.html


'''''Clean water act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Water_Act


''EPA must produce the opposing body of science Administrator Scott Pruitt has relied upon to claim that humans are not the primary drivers of global warming, a federal judge has ruled.''
'''''Noise control act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_Control_Act


''The EPA boss has so far resisted attempts to show the science backing up his claims.''
'''''Endangered species act
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/laws-policies/


''Not long after he took over as EPA administrator, Pruitt appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” where he was asked about carbon dioxide and climate change. He said, “I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.”''
'''''Safe drinking water act
http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/sdwa/basicinformation.cfm


''The next day, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking the studies Pruitt used to make his claims. Specifically, the group requested “EPA documents that support the conclusion that human activity is not the largest factor driving global climate change.”''


''On Friday, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Beryl Howell, ordered the agency to comply.''
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''“Particularly troubling is the apparent premise of this agency challenge to the FOIA request, namely: that the evidentiary basis for a policy or factual statement by an agency head, including about the scientific factors contributing to climate change, is inherently unknowable.”''


''If the case proceeds, it could mean that Pruitt would have to produce such research in the coming months or next year.''
<big>'''The Chemical Pollution Vectors... the Ongoing Challenge'''</big>


Health Impacts in the Air & Water, Everywhere the Sources of Damage to the Environment Need to Be Eliminated, Controlled, Mitigated, Prevented -- the EPA's Workload Is a Living Earth Necessity


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Case Study: TCE / trichloroethylene (TCE), as the chemical industry attempts to delay and weaken EPA controls.


The need to phase out the use of TCE under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is clear and present.


[[File:Pruitt-pfas summit.jpg]]
TCE presents severe risks to workers, consumers, and communities across the country. At Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the use and release of TCE at a marine base contaminated drinking water supplies for between 500,000 and 1 million service members, their families, and other local residents. Veterans stationed at that base experienced a 70 percent greater risk of Parkinson’s disease than those stationed elsewhere, and their children faced increased risks of leukemia, lymphoma and neural tube defects.




* [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/26/senior-epa-officials-collaborated-with-climate-change-denial-group-emails-show '''''Senior EPA officials collaborated with climate change denial group, emails show''''']
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Visit the EPA's Website -- Use the Resources


<big>'''''US EPA Administrator Back in the News'''''</big>


* [https://www.politico.com/amp/story/2018/05/23/epa-bars-reporters-from-toxic-chemicals-summit-again-565742 '''''Environmental Protection Agency Bars Reporters from Toxic Chemicals Summit''''']
'''National Service Center for Environmental Publications'''


''EPA staff Wednesday morning barred POLITICO and reporters from at least two other publications from entering a national summit on toxic chemicals, a day after a partial media blackout at the same event brought criticism from congressional Democrats and a pledge by the White House to investigate the incident...  the Associated Press (reported) that one of its journalists was forcibly ejected from the building.''
* https://www.epa.gov/nscep


''Pruitt scheduled the [https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-national-leadership-summit-and-engagement PFAS summit] months ago, but it has attracted increased attention after POLITICO reported that senior EPA officials had helped block the release of an HHS study that would have increased warnings about the chemicals. EPA stepped in after the White House warned in January that releasing the study would create a "public relations nightmare."''


''Pruitt said he was unaware of that intervention, but it has added to the criticism he has faced from lawmakers and the public in recent months. The embattled administrator is facing more than a dozen federal investigations over his first-class travel, sweetheart condo rental from a lobbyist, heavy security spending and other matters.''
''Search, retrieve, download, print, and order EPA technical, scientific, and educational materials from this site –- free of charge''




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Flashback from the US Trump Years of Attempting to 'Eliminate the EPA'




<big>'''''Only One Country Refuses to Support the Int'l Climate Agreement'''''</big>
<big>'''''Only One Country Refuses to Support the Int'l Climate Agreement'''''</big>


'''''November 2017'''''
'''''Trump's EPA in November 2017'''''


* http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-paris-agreement-us-climate-change-donald-trump-world-country-accord-a8041996.html
* http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-paris-agreement-us-climate-change-donald-trump-world-country-accord-a8041996.html
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* https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/07/syria-signs-paris-climate-agreement-and-leaves-us-isolated
* https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/07/syria-signs-paris-climate-agreement-and-leaves-us-isolated


[http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-germany-jerry-brown-climate-change-20171108-story.html '''''California Gov. Jerry Brown delivers a blunt climate change message in Germany''''']
 
 
[http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-germany-jerry-brown-climate-change-20171108-story.html <big> '''''California Gov. Jerry Brown delivers climate message in Germany'''''</big>]


''Brown has been hailed in German media as the “anti-Trump” for his efforts to keep the United States engaged in the 2015 Paris agreement’s commitments to cut greenhouse emissions...''
''Brown has been hailed in German media as the “anti-Trump” for his efforts to keep the United States engaged in the 2015 Paris agreement’s commitments to cut greenhouse emissions...''
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:::[http://www.thinbluelayer.com www.thinbluelayer.com]
:::[http://www.thinbluelayer.com www.thinbluelayer.com]


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:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Definitions_of_National_Security <big>''''' National & Global Security'''''</big>]


::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:New_Definitions_of_National_Security.png ''New Visions of Security'']


:[http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-20/world-pollution-deadlier-than-wars-disasters-hunger/9069776 <big>'''''Pollute Me, Not'''''</big>]


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Pollution
<big><big>[[Environmental full-cost accounting]]</big></big>


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Air_Pollution 
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Water_Pollution 


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Externalities


There are essential reasons why environmental protection regulations exist around the world --
<big><big>'''"True-Cost Eco-nomics of Climate Change"'''</big></big>
* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Environmental_protection


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Protection


* https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Environmental_Laws
<big><big>[[Generation Green]] | [[Greening Our Blue Planet]]</big></big>


: [https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Category:Externalities '''Confronting 'Externalities' ''']


::'''To Protect the '[[The Commons]]' '''


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*  https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Ethics_and_Climate_Change




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/New_Definitions_of_National_Security <big>''''' National & Global Security'''''</big>]
:[[File:Our Biggest Experiment - by Alice Bell.jpg]]


::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:New_Definitions_of_National_Security.png ''New Visions of Security'']
:| <big><big>'''[[Climate Problems, Climate Solutions]]'''</big></big> |




&nbsp;


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[[File:Vorsorgeprinzip at GreenPolicy360 - sjs.png]]


:<big>'''''Deconstructing the Environmental Protection Agency'''''</big>


::https://futurism.com/the-epa-just-removed-climate-change-from-their-climate-change-website/
<big>'''Vorsorgeprinzip at GreenPolicy360'''</big>


:::http://blog.ucsusa.org/science-blogger/how-pruitt-listens-removing-clean-power-plan-web-resources-undermines-public-engagement
* https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorsorgeprinzip


::::https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:UCS-EPA-Oct16,2017.png
* https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/environmental_issue_report_2001_22


* https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/environmental_issue_report_2001_22/issue-22-part-17.pdf/view


:<big>'''''A Frontline Public Broadcasting Investigation'''''</big>
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precautionary_principle


::*[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/war-on-the-epa/ '''''(Videos) Scott Pruitt's 'War on the EPA' ''''']




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🌎




:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/@Earth360 <big>'''''Earth360'''''</big>]


::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Look_at_how_thin_our_atmosphere_is ''How thin our atmosphere'']
<big><big>'''[[Planet Citizens]]'''</big></big> | <big><big>'''[[Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists]]'''</big></big>




:<big>'''''Dawning Thin Blue Perspective'''''</big>
At GreenPolicy360, we believe "each of us can make a positive difference by stepping up and doing our best"


::''New Definitions of National And Global Security''
: Together, we are Planet Citizens. Speaking out, we should act as Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists...


:::''National Interests, Environmental Protection, Global & Indivisible''




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:[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/@Earth360 <big>'''Earth360'''</big>]
 
::[https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Look_at_how_thin_our_atmosphere_is '''Earth's atmosphere, a Very "ThinBlueLayer" ''']
 
:::* http://www.thinbluelayer.com
 
 
 
[[File:Earth-NASA.jpg]]
 




[[Category:Air Pollution]]
[[Category:Air Pollution]]
[[Category:Air Quality]]
[[Category:Air Quality]]
[[Category:Atmospheric Science]]
[[Category:Aquifers]]
[[Category:Aquifers]]
[[Category:Biodiversity]]
[[Category:Clean Air]]
[[Category:Clean Air]]
[[Category:Clean Water]]
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Latest revision as of 18:35, 15 April 2024

Environmental Protection Agency logo.png



Question: When/Where/How/Why was the US Environmental Protection Agency created? Where did the environmental protection vision come from?

The EPA, its founding and its go-forward agenda, came from the initiatives and demands of the Environmental movement


Back in the day, we used to say "people power" would act to bring about changes that were needed... this was in the early years of the modern environmental movement... We believed that our voices, joined together across our country and led by the energy and hopes of young people, could be a political force for protection of our communities, health, and our common future -- our land, air, water... food, health, well-being.


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"Every day is Earth Day"


And so it came to be... idealism joined with realism and 'vision became reality'.

In the 1960s and 70s a foundation was built, and now we, in the US and the world, are attempting to continue to build and construct, to put it plainly, a better world.

We can say we are a Generation Green in progress...


Read the story that follows about the EPA start-up generation, how it happened, how visionary political representatives put ideas into action and the political voice and pressure of a political movement pushed a president to sign the Congressionally proposed, drafted and passed legislation.


GreenPolicy360 Siterunner: Environmental protection is at the heart of our agenda and a 360 call to action


Protecting the Planet, Protecting Home


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The EPA

 

Protecting 'the Commons'

National Environmental Policy Act


Looking back to the beginnings of the EPA


GreenPolicy360 Founder/Siterunner: In his rumpled suits and quiet way a man named George E. Brown moved to form coalitions few thought could be formed and garnered support for the first set of U.S. Congressional acts that served as foundation legislation for decades of green progress.


I was fortunate, as a student who met the new Congressman in the mid-1960s to then go on to see him in action over three decades. Let's begin with some memories of Earth Day and then the EPA.

The First Earth Day: Personal Memories


George E. Brown Jr, Congressman from East Los Angeles and your GreenPolicy360 Siterunner's friend/mentor and colleague. Please take time to click here on George's page, and revisit some highlights over the years --


George's lobbying Senator Nelson for a 'teach-in' that came to be known in 1970 as the first "Earth Day" also came about as George lobbied to create an Environmental Protection Agency. Congressman Brown was a mover-and-shaker, although he still goes under radar for the most part, even as he was a central figure in helping create the green movement and, as a 'big science' leader in Congress, a visionary and foundational green environmental agenda.

George's work advanced environmental air quality and clean air legislation. He introduced the nation's first bill to ban lead in gasoline and was at the forefront of the Clean Air Act. He attacked Los Angeles smog, some of the worst air quality of any city in the world at the time and the air standards that came out of California became models worldwide. He succeeded in clean air and water efforts, though rarely given credit given his quiet approach to accomplishing big picture goals.

 

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EPA History


George E Brown was a key player in legislation founding the Environmental Protection Agency.

As the LA Times noted (without pomp or circumstance) in the Congressman's obituary in 1999: "He championed the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency". The creation of the EPA was in many ways Congressman George Brown's vision achieved..."


The founding of the EPA was based on new realizations of science and the environment. The vision of the "Whole Earth" that began with unprecedented Apollo photos on the cover of Life magazine in January 1969 led to a coming together of education, students 'teach-ins', scientific space missions studying earth systems for the first time, and popular demands for environmental protections.

A leader and a chairperson on the House science committee for over 30 years, George legislatively engineered an array of science efforts, including one that greens look to as prescient -- climate science.


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When Congressman Brown drafted originating legislation establishing a national climate change research program via the National Climate Program Act of 1978, the scientific community and nation were just beginning to awaken to a new national security threat. I remember his concern, our concern. He was trained as a scientist, an engineer, with an ability to see facts and data sets in a way others could not.

Representative Brown was out in front of "Big Science". In his decades on the House Science, Space & Technology Committee, he worked to expand the reach of science. He knew that good data enabled good policy decisions. He pressed for first-generation earth science satellites and ongoing earth monitoring missions and data sharing....



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Thirty plus years setting the agenda for visionary science in the House of Representatives

Rep. George E. Brown, an activist member and for many years chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology


Via Wikipedia / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Brown_Jr.

Brown was known as a champion for science. He left behind a deep and expansive legacy that has shaped science and science policy in America. Among some of his many accomplishments during his service on the House Science Committee:

• Established the first federal climate change research program in the Federal Climate Program Act of 1978

• Established the Office of Science and Technology Policy

• Established the Environmental Protection Agency


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Pollute Me, Not


Too many to count ...essential reasons why environmental protection regulations exist and need to expand around the world --


SJS/GreenPolicy Siterunner:

@GreenPolicy360, Looking back at 'The beginning of the modern environmental era'

Foundational environmental laws of the 1960s/70s:

Unprecedented environmental protection, a vision that began a process that continues to this day...

Green, environmental public policies, a foundation on which to build sustainable quality of life...


Water quality act http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3456400109/water-quality-act-1965.html

Air quality act http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3197&context=lcp

National environmental policy act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Environmental_Policy_Act

Clean air act (extended 1970) https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-84/pdf/STATUTE-84-Pg1676.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_(United_States)

Occupational safety and health act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_Safety_and_Health_Act

Consumer product safety act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Product_Safety_Act

Federal insecticide, fungicide and rodenticide act http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/lfra.html

Clean water act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Water_Act

Noise control act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_Control_Act

Endangered species act http://www.fws.gov/endangered/laws-policies/

Safe drinking water act http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/sdwa/basicinformation.cfm


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The Chemical Pollution Vectors... the Ongoing Challenge

Health Impacts in the Air & Water, Everywhere the Sources of Damage to the Environment Need to Be Eliminated, Controlled, Mitigated, Prevented -- the EPA's Workload Is a Living Earth Necessity

Case Study: TCE / trichloroethylene (TCE), as the chemical industry attempts to delay and weaken EPA controls.

The need to phase out the use of TCE under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is clear and present.

TCE presents severe risks to workers, consumers, and communities across the country. At Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the use and release of TCE at a marine base contaminated drinking water supplies for between 500,000 and 1 million service members, their families, and other local residents. Veterans stationed at that base experienced a 70 percent greater risk of Parkinson’s disease than those stationed elsewhere, and their children faced increased risks of leukemia, lymphoma and neural tube defects.


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Visit the EPA's Website -- Use the Resources


National Service Center for Environmental Publications


Search, retrieve, download, print, and order EPA technical, scientific, and educational materials from this site –- free of charge


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Flashback from the US Trump Years of Attempting to 'Eliminate the EPA'


Only One Country Refuses to Support the Int'l Climate Agreement

Trump's EPA in November 2017


California Gov. Jerry Brown delivers climate message in Germany

Brown has been hailed in German media as the “anti-Trump” for his efforts to keep the United States engaged in the 2015 Paris agreement’s commitments to cut greenhouse emissions...

“It’s hard to get your mind around something so extensive,” said Brown, who was appointed by Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, the U.N. conference president, to serve as a special advisor for states and regions...

“Let’s lead the whole world to realize this is not your normal political challenge,” he added. “This is much bigger. This is life itself. It requires courage and imagination.”


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Record Surge in CO2
https://mobile.twitter.com/guardianeco/status/924960833729265669
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3020046/wmo-greenhouse-gas-concentrations-reach-highest-level-in-800-000-years


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Planet Citizens with an Earth Point of View
www.earthpov.com
www.thinbluelayer.com


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National & Global Security
New Visions of Security


Environmental full-cost accounting


"True-Cost Eco-nomics of Climate Change"


Generation Green | Greening Our Blue Planet

Confronting 'Externalities'
To Protect the 'The Commons'


Our Biggest Experiment - by Alice Bell.jpg
| Climate Problems, Climate Solutions |


 


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Vorsorgeprinzip at GreenPolicy360


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Planet Citizens | Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists


At GreenPolicy360, we believe "each of us can make a positive difference by stepping up and doing our best"

Together, we are Planet Citizens. Speaking out, we should act as Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists...


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Earth360
Earth's atmosphere, a Very "ThinBlueLayer"


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