For US environmentalists December 2nd, 1970 stands out among other important dates, since it was the day on which President Richard Nixon signed into law the Environmental Protection Agency. It forever changed how each individual would play a part in the United State’s fight on pollution.
Without the Environmental Protection Agency, the US would be congested with polluting chemicals, hazardous waste and other garbage that would slowly destroy its natural beauty. It seems strange that a president who is now seen as a terrible mistake should be responsible for something as clearly valuable as the EPA.Without it, many examples such as this sort of instructional video on solving domestic waste problems would simply not exist:hazardous waste .
The EPA, or the US environmental police, works in cooperation with other world organizations to create a better world with less pollution. The laws regarding pollution need to be more strict, with more fines levied against those who choose not to abide by them. You can do your part by demanding tougher laws for industries that are repeatedly caught dumping hazardous waste into the environment.
It looks as though our main future power source will be nuclear, as nuclear fuels will probably last longer than fossil fuels. Nuclear power can be clean - if all possible costs and issues are factored in. It certainly isn’t cheap though - but the era of cheap power has gone. That was the 70’s, when we’d just discovered the maximum amount of fossil fuel sources together with the technology to use them. That time has passed - the fuels have been used up - and now power will become increasingly expensive.
Perhaps the largest area of contact the American citizen has with the Environmental Protection Agency is the recycling program found in local cities and towns. There are laws governing the illegal dumping of hazardous waste into the environment. They push for corporations and businesses to join a recycling program to benefit the environment and serve as an example, with regard to the serious nature of pollution and overflowing landfills.
The Environmental Protection Agency covers endangered species, as well as air, water, land and hazardous waste pollution. They help to protect the environment in more ways that you could possibly think one agency is capable of doing but they manage to get it done. Without this agency regulating the industry and helping people get into a recycling program, this country would be in an appalling condition.
Visit www.epa.org for more information on how the Environmental Protection Agency works on a daily basis. You can give back to your community and help show others that recycling is not that hard. You can keep landfills free of recyclables and start a grass roots campaign to get more cities on track for recycling. Just doing your part is one small step in keeping more reuseable garbage out of your local landfill. Consider it your civic duty to help start a recycling program in your area and teaching others that big changes start with the efforts of all concerned. Do your part and you will begin to see others taking those small steps as well.