Colorado

There was a place called Love Canal
People had work a-plenty
But the factory man put poison in the land
And now that town is empty
Sharon Abreu

Two steps forward, one step back. Maybe two or three. So it goes with the environmental movement. For every solution there are always more problems.

In 1973 an Arab oil embargo caused widespread shortages with increased prices and VERY long lines at the pumps. Stations closed, for a day, or for good. Americans panicked! Speed limits were lowered to 55 MPH on the interstate and thermostats were adjusted to conserve fuel, with President Carter showing the way at the White House. For the first time oil was used to hold our gas-guzzling nation "hostage." It would not be the last. Talk about alternative energy sources and energy self-sufficiency began to make news.

In 1974 scientists discovered that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from spray cans and refrigerators could destroy atmospheric ozone, essential to filter out harmful radiation from the sun. The result was a significant increase in the incidence of skin cancer. Four years later the United States banned the use of CFCs. This was the beginning of an awareness that many environmental problems were global rather than local. The concept of globalization was born-the knowledge that actions on one side of the globe can effect those living on the other. Planet earth wasn't so big after all.

In 1953 a new school was built in Niagara Falls, NY, in an area called Love Canal. A year later construction began on a neighborhood of houses around the school. This in spite of prior warnings by Hooker Chemical company that they had buried 21,000 tons of toxic chemical waste at the site in the 1940s. No surprise when puddles of noxious ooze began to seep through the neighborhood and health and reproductive issues spread at alarming rates in the new residents. The Love Canal disaster made world headlines in the seventies as an example of callous disregard for human life. But it didn't end there. Other highly publicized cases would follow, including Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, Karen Silkwood verses Kerr-McGee in Oklahoma, and Hinkley verses Pacific Gas and Electric in California. The latter two cases were dramatized by Hollywood in award winning feature length films, with Meryl Streep nominated for an oscar in the title role of Silkwood and Julia Roberts winning the oscar for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich.

In stark contrast to hunter-gatherer societies, the modern world confers a significant standard of living, health, and survival advantage, but at great cost to our planet. The mission of environmental science is to find ways to mitigate man's negative impact as he continues his remarkable dominion over the earth.

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There was a place called Love Canal People had work a-plenty But the factory man put poison in the land And now that town is empty Sharon Abreu Two steps forward, one step back. Maybe two or three. So it goes with the environmental movement. For every solution there are always more problems. In 1973 an Arab oil embargo caused widespread shortages with increased prices and VERY long lines at the pumps. Stations closed, for a day, or for good. Americans panicked! Speed limits were lowered to 55 MPH on the interstate and thermostats were adjusted to conserve fuel, with President Carter showing the way at the White House. For the first time oil was used to hold our gas-guzzling nation "hostage." It would not be the last. Talk about alternative energy sources and energy self-sufficiency began to make news. In 1974 scientists discovered that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from spray cans and refrigerators could destroy atmospheric ozone, essential to filter out harmful radiation from the sun. The result was a significant increase in the incidence of skin cancer. Four years later the United States banned the use of CFCs. This was the beginning of an awareness that many environmental problems were global rather than local. The concept of globalization was born-the knowledge that actions on one side of the globe can effect those living on the other. Planet earth wasn't so big after all. In 1953 a new school was built in Niagara Falls, NY, in an area called Love Canal. A year later construction began on a neighborhood of houses around the school. This in spite of prior warnings by Hooker Chemical company that they had buried 21,000 tons of toxic chemical waste at the site in the 1940s. No surprise when puddles of noxious ooze began to seep through the neighborhood and health and reproductive issues spread at alarming rates in the new residents. The Love Canal disaster made world headlines in the seventies as an example of callous disregard for human life. But it didn't end there. Other highly publicized cases would follow, including Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, Karen Silkwood verses Kerr-McGee in Oklahoma, and Hinkley verses Pacific Gas and Electric in California. The latter two cases were dramatized by Hollywood in award winning feature length films, with Meryl Streep nominated for an oscar in the title role of Silkwood and Julia Roberts winning the oscar for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich. In stark contrast to hunter-gatherer societies, the modern world confers a significant standard of living, health, and survival advantage, but at great cost to our planet. The mission of environmental science is to find ways to mitigate man's negative impact as he continues his remarkable dominion over the earth.

© Danny Kimberlin 2015