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Luke Ware
Mrs. Ingram
UWRT 1103 Writing and Inquiry in Academic Contexts I and II
November, 6 2015
Pollution in America
Introduction
The world serves as a common home for all creatures, ranging from
humans to the smallest of microorganisms. As a people, we tend to forget
how big of an environmental foot print we can leave on the planet and the
other organisms that live here. The importance of protecting the
environment does not just help other species, but it can determine the fate
of our future generations. In order to secure the safety of the planet, the
whole world must make and understand the required steps to reach the
desired goal. Every country needs to get on the same page and do their part
to save the environment. The United States of America have great resources
and ideas to contribute for reaching a stable environmental friendly future.
However America also tends to prioritize money and business over what
really needs to happen. Many questions can arise from this topic, but the
main points of discussion need to focus on Americas current goals to save
the environment. One huge issue with the environment today is pollution. I

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believe that America has helped out with trying to control pollution, but there
is still more work to accomplish.
.
Pollution in America
Pollution control in America is a difficult and serious problem because
there is so much in an everyday life that people do not realize the damage
they are potentially causing. This is not an easy problem to solve because
limiting the way Americans use their resources can be considered infringing
their rights. The United States has implemented acts like the Clean Air and
Water Act, but that only effects business that produce large amounts of
pollutants. America is an affluent society, where people use more than they
necessarily need. Not only does this seem like a problem for people across
the globe, it also means that more pollution and wasteful byproducts are
being used at an astounding rate. According to the Sandra Yin, author of
Lifestyle Choices Affect U.S. Impact on the Environment from PBR (Population
Reference Bureau), between the year 1950 and 2005 energy consumption
skyrocketed nearly 35 quadrillion Btu (British Thermal Units). Even though
the population in America is only doubling, the amounts of resources that
they use accounts for more than an fourth of the total natural resources.
Americans choose to live in luxury and use more natural resources than they
use, which in return causes more pollutants to enter the environment. An
example on how America overconsumes can be seen in a recent automobile

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statistic. China has more citizens than America does, but according to Sandra
Yin, China has 12 motor vehicles per 1000 people. America on the other
hand uses an upwards of 779 motor vehicles per 1000 people. America is
one of the few countries that are supporting a continuous population growth,
meaning that in the as time continues in America the more pollutants will
enter the environment unless some serious changes are made. As much as
people want to blame the Government for not doing anything about
pollution, Americans need to consider how their daily activities are affecting
the amount of pollution entering the environment.
How America Has Helped Control Pollution
The Clean Air Act was established by America in 1970 following the
increasing amounts of smog in the populated cities. In addition to many
health problems caused by smog, the Clean Air Act looked to solve the
problems such as acid rain and ozone depletion, by placing regulations on
the emissions of harmful air pollutants. Reducing the amounts of pollution is
key in saving the environment because emissions of gasses like carbon
monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and many more reduce the ozone layer. The
ozone layer is critical to organisms health. For humans the ozone layer
blocks out harmful UV radiation that can cause serious skin conditions. By
setting limits on the amount of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere, the
Clean Air Act helps protect the public health. Under the Clean Air Act all
states must adhere and follow the restrictions placed by the Environmental
Protection Agency. The Clean Air Act also helps provide restrictions on the

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amount of pollutants released from motor vehicles and factories that

released the criteria pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide,
and lead. The United States adopted this act in 1970, this being said there
has been an effort made by the United States to help control air pollutants
that without the Act would cause many health problems for the public and
the environment.
Similarly to the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water had many similar
strategies including regulating the disposing of hazardous materials into
water beds. The Clean Air Act was established in 1972 and gave the
Environmental Protection Agency the power to control how factories and
businesses dispose of their waste. The Act also worked with the NPDES
(National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) which was a permit system
that prevented industrial and other businesses from discharging pollutants
into the water, unless otherwise given permission. This is a key part in safety
because where businesses would be discharging pollutants, this would be the
area where people participated in recreational activities as well as important
aquatic ecosystems. The Clean Water Act also helped implement the usage
of wastewater treatment facilities across the nation. The EPA declared that
hazardous waste could not be dumped into was would be considered
navigable waters. These quality standards were implanted across the United
States creating the first nationwide regulations on waste disposal into
waters. Along with all the regulations set in place, the Clean Water Act also
raise awareness for waste disposal into water, showing how harmful dumping

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unregulated waste into waterways can be for the environment and public
health. Before the Clean Water Act, anyone could dump anything they want
into nearby lakes and streams. By creating this act, you can tell that the
United States does have a desire to help the environment. However this act,
similar to the Clean Air Act, only has some regulations on emitting pollutants.
This helps explain that the United States is attempting to do well in helping
the environment, but there could be much more done in their part.
In more recent environmental events, President Obama created the
first ever nationwide plan to conserve energy and drop carbon emissions.
According to The White House and President Obama, the Clean Power Plans
goal is to drop carbon emissions by 32% by the year 2030. The aspiring goal
of this plan is to protect the public health, boost the economy, and save
families money. Looking further into the plan, you will be able to see that the
plan focuses deeply on reducing the amounts of pollutants power plants
produce. Since 1998 the year 2014 has broken the record on the heat index
and 2015 is predicted to take its place. According to BBC News, If
temperatures remain as predicted, 2015 will be the first year to breach this
key threshold. The world would then be half way towards 2C, the gateway to
dangerous warming. The presidents new plan to reduce emissions is a
great step towards achieving environmental stability. The Clean Power Plan is
provides evidence that the United States has a concern of the wellbeing of
the environment, especially since the Clean Power Plan seems to last until
the year 2030.

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How America Has Avoided Pollution Control

The Kyoto Protocol was a treaty that was formed by the United Nations to get
countries on page to confront global warming. This international treatys goal was to
have as many countries get on the same page to reduce the six emissions that lead
to global warming. When the treaty was formed in 1997 35 countries agreed to
apply the treaty in their own countries policy. The United States signed the treaty in
1998, but due to the policies of the Clinton administration the policies were not
implemented into the United States. More specifically the United States signed the
treaty but President Clinton did not have the senate approve the regulations,
therefore parting ways with the treaty. Later on in 2004 the Bush Administration did
not sign with the treaty, but did start implementing their own regulations for
reducing emissions. The United States past involvements with the Kyoto Protocol
bring up an interesting point in the environmental protection within the country.
From the Kyoto Protocol the United States would like to help the Environment but
seem to not go through with their plans 100%, this mainly is because of the politics
involved and the overall effects in such policies could change the whole dynamics of
the economy.
In the book, The Politics of Air Pollution: urban growth, ecological
modernization, and symbiotic inclusion George A Gonzalez discusses the processes
behind regulating pollutants going into the environment. Gonzalez states that the
biggest part of who regulates the policy is those in charge of small economical elites
that work with the local and state governments. This book is a great reference to
how the federal government does their part in trying to pass nationwide policy
changes, but the real change comes from the local groups of elites. They are the
ones who promote pollution control and raise awareness that contributes to placing

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regulations on businesses. In the last chapter Gonzalez talks about creating
pollution. He claims that air pollution is not as simple as just reducing, reusing, and
recycling. The policy are created and are not created mainly because of one factor,
the big businesses. The businesses sometimes have people that are a part of the
elite groups that influence policy changes. If the new policy will affect the business
in a negative way then the policy will most likely form. In some cases, the business
owners might implement policies that actually hurt the environment if it means that
they can make some kind of profit. This shows how difficult it is to overcome the
desire to have wealth in an affluent society that America truly is.
Summary
The importance of environmental awareness is something that everyone
should keep someplace in their mind. The environment is not just a resource that
people should take away from the Earth until the land is barren and the lakes and
streams are died up, the environment is a place where all organism live and interact
with one another. We take away the environment and we take away all the species
that come along with it as well. Pollution is a huge contributor to environmental
devastation. Air and water pollution bring harmful pollutants into the air that we
breathe and the water we drink. When people think of ways to save the
environment they point their fingers at the government and claim they are not
doing a thing to help out. In retrospect if you step back and take a look, the
government has implemented many policies that effect the control of pollutants
entering the water table and the atmosphere. Even though the government tends to
aim their desire of making profit over the environment at times there is still a good
deal of blame to give to ourselves. Everyone needs to limit their environmental
footprint by making a better effort to use less and conserve more. The government

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in America has done a good deal to help control pollution, however even though
there is much more to be done, one way to ensure pollution control is happening is
limit yourself and practice good conservation and sustainability techniques. Once
we all do our part, then the government will truly understand our intentions and we
all will be on the same page.

References
"EPA." History of the Clean Water Act. Accessed October 2, 2015.
http://www2.epa.gov/laws-regulations/history-clean-water-act.

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"EPA." Clean Air Act Requirements and History. November 10, 2015. Accessed
September 29, 2015. http://www2.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/clean-airact-requirements-and-history.

"EPA." National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). December

9, 2015. Accessed December 9, 2015. http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/npdes/.

"Edit Content Edit Classification Publishing Workflow Featured Settings

Delete Content Kyoto Protocol and the United States." Kyoto Protocol and the
United States. February 26, 2013. Accessed October 2, 2015.
http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/154065/.
Gonzalez, George A. "Political Power and Global Warming." In The Politics of
Air Pollution Urban Growth, Ecological Modernization, and Symbolic Inclusion,
104-107. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 2005.

"President Obama's Plan to Fight Climate Change." The White House.

Accessed October 2, 2015. https://www.whitehouse.gov/climate-change.

"Lifestyle Choices Affect U.S. Impact on the Environment." Lifestyle Choices

Affect U.S. Impact on the Environment. Accessed October 2, 2015.
http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2006/LifestyleChoicesAffectUSImpact
ontheEnvironment.aspx.

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