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The U.S. Water Pollution Crisisand the Clean Water Act
Pat Munday, PhD
Fulbright Scholar
Southwest University PRC Spring 2012
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Historical Development of the
Clean Water Act of 1972
Introduction: 1969 Cuyahoga River fire as mythic
event
Water pollution and the U.S. industrial revolution
Give Earth a Chance: 1960s grassroots activism Leadership: 1960s political calls for action
Landmark legislation: the Clean Water Act of 1972
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Great Lakes Region, United States
Cleveland, Ohio:
Cuyahoga River
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Cuyahoga River Fire 1952
(http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1642)
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Cuyahoga River Pollution in 1969http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/2009/06/cuyahoga_river_fire_40_years_a.html
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Video Clip: Cuyahoga River Fire, 1969
One of many fires: 1868, 1883, 1887, 1912,1922, 1936, 1941, 1948, and 1952.
Historical question: The Cuyahoga River, and
other rivers in America, had burned before.Why was this time different? Why did it help
lead to environmental policy changes?
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Historical Explanation
1960s America: social revolution anti-war
movement, civil rights, feminism, opposition
to materialism/technology, environmentalism
Universities: development of environmental
sciences
Political will to change: U.S. Congress and
President Richard Nixon
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Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962)
Scientist
Popular writer
Activist
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http://www.treehugger.com/
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Environmental Philosophy/Literature:
Chinese and Japanese Zen Influences
Jack Kerouac, On the
Road(1957)
Alan Watts, The Way of
Zen (1957); [Zen =(Chn)]
Gary Snyder, Riprap and
Cold Mountain Poems
(1959)
[Cold Mountain =
(Hnshn) ]
9Hanshan and Shide (Museum Rietberg, Zrich)
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Growth of Grassroots Activism:
Sierra Club Membership
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Earth Day 1970
Teach-in for 20 million
Most events university-
based
Modeled after teach-inprotests against the U.S.
war in Vietnam
Pressure U.S. governmentto address environmental
issues
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Political Awareness:
President John F. Kennedy (1961-63)
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Even in material terms,
prosperity is not enough when
there is no equal opportunity
to share in it; when economic
progress means overcrowded
cities, abandoned farms,
technological unemployment,
polluted air and water, and
littered parks andcountryside John F.
Kennedy, U.S. presidential
candidate (1960)
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Political Awareness:
President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69)
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"We have always prided
ourselves on being not only
America the strong and
America the free, but Americathe beautiful Today that
beauty is in danger. The water
we drink, the food we eat, the
very air that we breathe, are
threatened with pollution
President Lyndon B. Johnson
(1964)
h l ( )
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The Clean Water Act (1972):
The Legislative Process
President Richard Nixon
submitted the CWA bill to
Congress
Vetoed by President based on
cost vs. benefit (17 October1972)
Overridden by Senate (18
October 1972)
Overridden by House andbecame law (18 October 1972)
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Th Cl W t A t (1972)
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The Clean Water Act (1972):
A Major Achievement
Major achievements
1. Federal agency control over pollution (Environmental
Protection Agency, established by President Nixon in
1970 in response to the first Earth Day)
2. Discharge of toxic pollutants prohibited
3. Water must be swimmable and fishable.*
* [drinkable added with Safe Drinking Water Act (1974)]
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The Challenge Continues
American social conflict: corporate vs.
environmental interests
Environmental support dependent on
grassroots citizen groups: Clean Water Action,
Trout Unlimited, American Rivers, and
hundreds of state/local groups
Video clip: Clean Water Action
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Selected Bibliography
Web Sites CWA general summary http://www.pbs.org/now/science/cleanwater.html
CWA legislative overview www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/cwa.html
Scholarly Journals Adler (2002). Fables of the Cuyahoga,FORDHAM ENVIRONMENTAL LAW JOURNAL 14:
89-146.
Rome (2003). Give Earth a Chance,The Journal of American History90: 525-554.
Stradling and Stradling (2008). Perceptions of the Burning River,Environmental History
13: 515-535.
Books Milazzo (2006). Unlikely Environmentalists: Congress and Clean Water, 19451972.
(University Press of Kansas).
Munday (2011). Environmental Protection Agency in Robbins and Wehr (eds), Green
Culture: An A-to-Z Guide (Sage Publications, Inc.).
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http://www.pbs.org/now/science/cleanwater.htmlhttp://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/cwa.htmlhttp://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/cwa.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/now/science/cleanwater.html