Oil and the Environment

Kent ChroniclesJanuary 2013

Roots of the Embargo

• US material support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War

• Lesser known, the end of the Bretton Woods International Monetary System

Oil Embargo

• Stagflation: Stagnant economy and rising inflation

• High unemployment

Ways to deal with the hortage

• Lower speed limit• Car Pool• Rationing• Public Transit• Energy Efficiency– Don’t be Fuelish

Government and Business Responses

• Pipelines• Exploration• Extend Daylight Savings Time• Alternative fuels• New car fuel efficiency targets• Government turns off lights

Conservation Before the 1970s

• The Parks System– TR

• Rachel Carson– Silent Spring

• The Cuyahoga River

Concerns in the Area

• Dumping into the Skagit River

First Earth Day

• April 22, 1970

In Philly

Using that Political Will

• Clean Air Act• Federal Water Pollution Control Act• Marine Mammal Protection Act• Safe Drinking Water Act• Endangered Species Act• Toxic Substance Control Act

Love Canal

In Niagara Falls, NY

In Kent

• Western Processing Company– Cleanup started in 1983

• Midway Landfill• Cleanup started in 1985

• Seattle Municipal Landfill– Cleanup started in 1984