The Importance of the U.S. EPA - Environmental Protection Agency

As a scientist, and someone who likes to breathe clean air and drink uncontaminated water I wanted to educate you about some of the important roles of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, since some foolish politicians (Republicans) think those things are bad. The EPA sets standards to reduce air and water pollution and toxic chemicals in things that people and pets use daily. They help ensure clean water and cleaner air by pollution controls. - At the end of the blog, look at the photo from modern day China, where there are no pollution controls and people walk around in masks to breathe. SO, in this blog, learn what the EPA does for YOU.  (in the next blog we'll look at China's pollution)
  
PERSONAL EXAMPLE OF EPA BENEFITS -  I visited Los Angeles in 1984 and the smog (low-level ozone pollution, the gas in smog that exacerbates asthma, other respiratory and heart ailments) was so thick and brown over the city that I could see it 10 miles away. When I got there, my eyes and my throat BURNED from the pollution. Today, the smog problem is MUCH LESS.

Los Angeles air pollution graphic

The air pollution in the Los Angeles region has lost some of its “sting,” according to a new study by researchers at NOAA and its cooperative institute at the University of Colorado Boulder.

SCIENTIFIC PROOF- In a study, published online June 17, 2013  in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, a team of scientists analyzed new data gathered using a NOAA research aircraft, along with archived data going back a half-century, to produce a comprehensive study of air pollution in the Los Angeles region.   The cleanup of California’s tailpipe emissions over the last few decades has not only reduced ozone pollution in the Los Angeles area, it has also altered the pollution chemistry in the atmosphere, making the eye-stinging “organic nitrate” component of air pollution plummet, according to a new study led by a scientist from NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder.


WHAT IS THE EPA's PURPOSE? - The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or sometimes USEPA) is an agency of the Federal government of the United States which was created for the purpose of protecting human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress. EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people.

WHAT DOES EPA REGULATE?  They ensure regulations and take actions to  clean air and water pollution and toxic waste sites (known as Superfund sites).  The EPA began regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act  from mobile and stationary sources of air pollution for the first time on January 2, 2011. Do you know they even help consumers identify products made with ingredients that are safer for people and the environment? (SEE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/XywBduC1neQ)

WHY AND WHEN FORMED? - When Ohio's Cuyahoga River was so polluted that it caught FIRE (yes, it actually caught fire) in 1969, and people could NOT breathe the intense smog in Los Angeles the government realized that it had to regulate and create pollution controls.   EPA was established on December 2, 1970 to consolidate in one agency a variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection. 
 

On June 22, 1969, a fire started on the Cuyahoga River

WHAT IS THE CLEAN AIR ACT? -The Clean Air Act is a statute written by Congress that gives EPA the authority to establish regulations, policy, and guidance to protect air quality. This page provides links to some of EPA's air pollution rules and regulations. 

For more information, visit: https://www.epa.gov/  
 

Red Alert bad air quality in Beijing China 2015

 
THE EPA EVEN WORKS TO CLEAR MARINE DEBRIS -  Marine Debris: Cause, Effect, and Prevention 
Trash and litter is not only harmful to our health, but also to marine life at sea. Marine life such as turtles, birds, and the fish we catch and eat mistake this trash for food. Most of this trash begins its journey on land and enters the ocean through our streams, rivers, and waterways. See and hear how this harmful problem can be prevented and how EPA's efforts can keep our oceans clean. 
 VIDEO: https://youtu.be/0_GTORybXTM?list=PLBhfkkujnoRB6QXBuPnSR7Ib1CbIh2pgj
https://youtu.be/0_GTORybXTM?list=PLBhfkkujnoRB6QXBuPnSR7Ib1CbIh2pgj

 NEXT: A WORLD WITHOUT AN EPA: A  LOOK AT THE AIR POLLUTION IN CHINA