The ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES (1968-1980) [APUSH Review Unit 8 Topic 13] Period 8: 1845-1980

The video introduces the topic of environmental policy during the period of 1968-1980, setting the learning objective to explain the development and changes in these policies. It outlines a discussion of natural resources outside and then inside the United States.

The discussion begins with external natural resources, focusing on oil, particularly from the Middle East. The complicated relationship between the U.S. and Middle Eastern nations, largely due to U.S. support for Israel, led to the 1973 OPEC oil embargo. This resulted in dramatically increased fuel prices and shortages in the U.S., forcing American policymakers to confront their dependence on foreign energy sources.

In response to the energy crisis, nuclear energy was considered a viable alternative due to plentiful and cheap uranium and lack of greenhouse gas emissions. However, the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979, despite disputed harm, and later Chernobyl, instilled fear and prevented nuclear energy from gaining a significant national policy foothold in the U.S.

The Three Mile Island incident energized the growing environmental movement, which had gained momentum from Rachel Carson's 1962 book, "Silent Spring," exposing the dangers of pesticides like DDT, and the first Earth Day in 1970. This activism led to significant policy changes, including President Richard Nixon's creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 to regulate pollution. The urgency for such an agency was underscored by events like the Cuyahoga River catching fire multiple times due to pollution. Additionally, the Clean Air Act, passed in 1963, aimed to control air pollution nationally, with the EPA later overseeing its regulations.