Unit VI- U.S. Cultural History 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s

1. Unit VI- U.S. Cultural History 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s Chapter 35 Sections 2 and 6

2. Living Issues • Conservation and Ecology • Acid Rain - Air, Water and Land pollution • Recycling • Earth Day • Energy- conservation, alternatives and Government • Computer Revolution • Labor problems and Farm Crisis

3. Conservation and Ecology • Conservation- concern for the following areas: • Relationships between organisms and their environment • Population growth rates • Soil management and erosion • Efficiency of food production • Water management- shortages, pollution, ecosystems and coastal erosion • Rangeland management • Forest management • Wildlife management and extinction • Pesticides: crops, health and the environment • Managing wastes in the Human Environment Administers 261 million surface acres of public land

4. Ecology • ECO: It certainly isn't a new word. In Greek ("oikos"), it means the home, the place where we live. And ecology means the science of how all living creatures interact within our home - our environment on this fascinating, complex Spaceship Earth. • Today, over three-quarters of all adult Americans pay attention to a company's environmental reputation before they buy its products and services. Two-thirds of us recycle the waste from our homes, schools, or offices; and 70% say they would be willing to pay higher taxes to make our air and water cleaner. Amoeba

5. Pollution- Air, Water and Land • The Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) of 1990 established P2 as U.S. public policy. The Act declares that pollution should be prevented or reduced at the source, wherever feasible. In the absence of feasible prevention or recycling opportunities, pollutant by-products should be treated appropriately. Disposal or other release into the environment should be the last resort and should be conducted in an environmentally safe manner.

6. Water Pollution • Water Pollution- contamination of streams, lakes, underground water, bays, or oceans by substances harmful to living things-chemical, biological, or physical materials. • Types of Pollutants • Petroleum Products • Pesticides and herbicides • Heavy metals • Hazardous wastes • Excess organic matter • Sediment • Infectious organisms • Thermal

7. Non Point Source Pollution • Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution, unlike pollution from industrial and sewage treatment plants, comes from many diffuse sources. NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even our underground sources of drinking water. These pollutants include: • Excess fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides from agricultural lands and residential areas. • Oil, grease, and toxic chemicals from urban runoff and energy production; • Sediment from improperly managed construction sites, crop and forest lands, and eroding streambanks; • Salt from irrigation practices and acid drainage from abandoned mines; • Bacteria and nutrients from livestock, pet wastes, and faulty septicsystems; • Atmospheric deposition and hydromodification are also sources of nonpoint source pollution.

8. Atmospheric Pollution Ozone areas • EPA- 188 pollutants • Types of Pollution- • Release of Particles into atmosphere • From burning fossil fuel • Autos, homes and industries • Black Carbon pollution • Radiation • Release of Noxious Gasses • sulfur dioxide • carbon monoxide • nitrogen oxides, and • chemical vapors. • Toxic air pollutants, also known as hazardous air pollutants, are those pollutants that are known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects, such as reproductive effects or birth defects, or adverse environmental effects • Results- Acid Rain, Ozone Damage, Smog, Haze (Visibility), Global Warming and Climate Change

9. Land Pollution • Land pollution is the degradation of the Earth's land through human misuse of the soil • Toxic Chemicals • Littering and insects • Improper disposal of waste. • Deforestation • Soil Misuse and erosion • Landfills

10. Recycling • Reduce/reuse/recyclePractice the three R's: first reduce how much you use, then reuse what you can, and then recycle the rest. Then, dispose of what's left in the most environmentally friendly way.

11. Earth Day - April 22 • "Good stewardship of the environment is not just a personal responsibility, it is a public value.” President G. W. Bush Sequoia National Park, California • First celebrated on April 22, 1970 and rallied more than 20 million people to environmental activities. • Largest grassroots movement in American History and helped create the environmental movement. • Save energy, use less water, and handle household toxics carefully. • Rachel Carson - “Silent Spring”- pesticides.

12. Energy- Conservation, Alternatives, and Government • Renewable Energy • Bioenergy- biomass • Geothermal • Hydrogen • Hydropower • Ocean • Solar • Wind • Energy Efficiency • Buildings • Industry • Power • Transportation • Recycling conserves energy

13. Computer Revolution Who controls the past commands the future. Who commands the future conquers the past." -George Orwell

14. Farm Crisis The 1980’s Farm Crisis • Causes of the farm crisis varied. The agricultural prosperity of the 1970’s inflated the price of farmland. In 1970 the average farmland value in Iowa was $419 per acre. By 1980 the average farmland value was $2,066 per acre, but by 1986 it had dropped to $787 per acre. • Many farmers borrowed money at high rates of interest, which could only be repaid by continued high prices for their commodities. The prime interest rate in 1981 was18.87 percent. Falling commodity prices and farmland values in the 1980’s led to economic and social problems. Many farmers were forced into bankruptcy, which, in turn, led to the closing of many banks. • In 10 years, the number of Iowa farms dropped by more than 11 percent, from 121,000 in 1979 to 107,000 in 1988. In 2000 there were 93,500 farms in Iowa. • Add to this an increase in international competition. • PIK - Payment in Kind- Farmers paid in surplus crops from government grain bins for not planting their land. • Farm Loan Security Act- reduced the amount the government would loan on their crops.

15. Labor in the 1980’s • Air traffic controllers strike. • On August 3, 1981 nearly 13,000 of the 17,500 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) walked off the job, hoping to disrupt the nation's transportation system to the extent that the federal government would accede to its demands for higher wages, a 32 hour work week, updated computer equipment and better retirement benefits after 20 years. • The president announced the striking workers were in violation of the law, and he fired them, with little apparent remorse. Organized labor was furious while the public had a more mixed reaction. Even those within his own administration had their doubts about the move. • Decline of smokestack industries. • “Give-backs” • Strikes and changes in relations of business and labor.