The Environment

We all share one planet. There is always beauty in the trees, in the water, and in the organisms that
exist in our globe. There is no freedom and no liberation without a strong planet. That's self-
evident. The Clean Air Act and other laws did a lot to help reduce pollution in urban and rural areas
for decades. Yet, much work is still needed to strengthen our environment. We still witness toxic
waste dumping in many locations. There are still many people who hunt endangered species animals
with brutality and recklessness. Polluters abound worldwide. Sometimes, big corporations have
members who are complicit in pollution and other health scandals. Over the course of time,
environments change constantly. We have seen record heat in our time, extreme weather, and other
issues of importance. Climate change is differently real and it is an utmost importance for us to
discuss plus organize solutions to this overt reality. Therefore, it is key for all of us to fight for
environmental justice. That means that we want clean water to be given to the people of Flint,
Michigan. We desire quality, universal healthcare for all. We want toxic waste dumping and
pollution curtailed and eradicated. We want continued investments in anti-smoking endeavors. We
want to combat lead poisoning and the end to environmental racism. The cause of helping the
Earth is the cause of our lives.

One of the most important subjects to know and revere is the environment. When many of us were
really young, we conducted experiments on the strength and the vitally important nature of the air,
of plants, and other aspects of earth science. Today, many of us still visit parks, forests, and other
natural environment to acknowledge the pristine point that our world does deserve to be
ecologically improved. The studying of the environment is diverse too. The study of topography
involving geography interrelates to environmental disciplines. The reason is that the soil, the flora,
the fauna, and other entities among different climates of the world are diverse. Their biospheres are
heavily influenced by vegetation, climate change, weather patterns, and other aspects of how the
Universe functions. When you study astronomy and the position of the sun and the moon, people
can understand tidal formations, which in terms deals with environmental issues.
Also, it is important to give credit to grassroots individuals and organizations doing the great work
in organizing agriculture, cleaning up beaches, and creating alternative forms of energy (which can
reduce pollution in the Earth). This fight for environmental justice won't be easy either. Many
corporate interests receive a lot of money to advance poisonous chemicals, to downplay the serious
issue of climate change, and to invest in unhealthy, nefarious products. That is why strong vigilance
and a powerful effort must always coalesce in enacting great solutions. So, I will always love the
environment and believe in the fundamentally inalienable creed of social justice.

Climate Change Agreement

In Le Bourget or the suburbs of Paris, from November 30 to December 12, 2015, there was the
2015 United Nations Climate Conference. It has been called COP 21 or CMP 11. This comes after
the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The conference was about negotiating the Paris Agreement which dealt
with reducing carbon emissions as it relates to climate change. The plan was to try to decrease many
degrees Celsius worldwide (involving climate change) in a certain span of time. This led to the
establishment of the historic Paris Agreement. Prior to the conference, 146 national climate panels
publicly presented draft national climate contributions (called "Intended Nationally Determined
Contributions", INDCs). These suggested commitments were estimated to limit global warming to
2.7 degrees Celsius by 2100. The 2 biggest emitters in the globe are America and China. After
negotiations, by December 12, 2015, the participating 195 countries agreed by consensus to be final.
The members agreed to reduce carbon emissions. Many demonstrators during that time either want
a stronger regulation or are involved in fighting for environmental justice in general. Demonstrators
existed worldwide and especially in Paris. The Paris Agreement was signed after the conference in
April 22, 2016. It is effective by November 4, 2016 onward. April 22 is Earth Day. The agreement is
part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It deals with
greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020. The
language of the agreement was negotiated by representatives of 195 countries at the 21st
Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Paris. It was signed in New York City. The head of
the Paris Conference, France's foreign minister Laurent Fabius, said this "ambitious and balanced"
plan is a "historic turning point" in the goal of reducing global warming. The agreement wants to
hold global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius.
As of December 2016, 192 states and the European Union have signed the agreement. 128 of those
parties have ratified or acceded to the Agreement, most notably China, the United States and India,
the countries with three of the largest greenhouse gas emissions of the signatories' total (about 42%
together). The Paris Agreement comes after the Kyoto Protocol and after the failure of the
Copenhagen Accords. The Paris Agreement is a historic agreement. The key in making real change
is to preserve the forests. There is a great possibility that between now and 2020 alone, we could
lose 1,460,000,000 acres of tropical forest and 273,750 species. We must also restore degraded and
deforested land to purpose. There are 2 billion hectares of degraded and deforested land across the
world with potential for restoration. Restoration of degraded and deforested lands is not simply
about planting trees. Lands must be fertile and restored land ought to exist when protecting animal
plus plant species. We must also restore degraded and deforested land to purpose. Achieving the
350 million hectare by 2030 goal would result in estimates of 0.6-1.7 gigatons CO2 sequestered per
on year average, reaching 1.6-3.4 gigatons per year in 2030 and totaling 11.8-33.5 gigatons over the
period 2011-2030. Even restoring 150 million hectares would capture 47 gigatons of CO2, and
reduce the emissions gap by 17 percent. That is why forest restoration is important in fighting
climate change. With its strengths and flaws, the Paris Agreement outlines the urgency to advance
true environmental justice. Recently, Trump has allowed America to exit the Paris Agreement,
which is disgraceful.

Flint, Michigan Updates

One of the most important environmental crisis in the 21st century is about the Flint water crisis.
Corporations allowed poisoned water to go into the Flint area after clean water from the Detroit
area was rejected. Activists have helped people in Flint, but more work is needed. Many
communities nationwide and worldwide face lead contamination too. A Reuters report found that
almost 3,000 areas in America have lead poisoning high rates. Some of these areas are found in
Baltimore (according to the Reuters report, Freddie Gray, who was from Baltimore and was killed
at the custody of the police in April of 2015, was a victim of lead poisoning. Gray and his family
filed a lawsuit against the landlord of the row house where they were living in Baltimore’s
Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in 2008), Cleveland, and Philadelphia. The CDC doesn’t have
a regulatory authority to force states to act to end this massive level of lead poisoning in America.
There has been a very significant drop in tested levels of lead in blood samples since the US
government banned the use of lead in gasoline about 40 years ago, but we have a long way to go.
The providing of clean, safe drinking water is a human right. All human beings need access to water
for survival literally (early civilizations in Sumeria, Egypt, ancient Rome, ancient Greece, etc. used
water treatment technologies. Ancient Rome had aqueducts to spread water over hundreds of miles.
The Industrial Age improved the treatment of the distribution of water).

Philadelphia built the first US municipal water system beginning in 1801 in the wake of a
devastating yellow fever epidemic. Water was piped into the city and was freely available to citizens
at public hydrants. It was also the first city in the world, in 1804, to use cast iron pipes for its water
mains. Water is necessary for agriculture, industry, personal hygiene, and cooking. We know that the
Flint disaster is not just about lead poisoning in the water supply. It is about all levels of
government having authorities that made it their duty to ignore studies of Flint high level lead levels
and the lack of oversight to fight against this problem. Local officials, with the complicity of the
state government and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, made the decision to use
highly corrosive water from the Flint River in place of the city’s longtime water source without
applying corrosion controls.

The Flint River water leached lead from the city’s antiquated piping, leading to the contamination of
the water supply. Flint River water is also linked to an outbreak of Legionnaires disease that caused
at least 10 deaths. Flint is a victim of deindustrialization too and the working class and the poor
nationwide have been stripped of their economic rights. This is a very important issue. Less than
one percent of the earth’s water is suitable for drinking in its natural state. The rest is in the oceans
or the polar ice caps. Some 98 percent of liquid fresh water is ground water, much of it very deep
beneath the earth’s surface, making pumping expensive. Despite this, there is ample water to supply
human needs given the development of modern technologies. This is why lead pipes should be
banned and eradicated nationwide and worldwide.
A nationwide, multibillion dollar infrastructure project is needed to replace lead pipe and to provide
safe drinking water to all from Flint to other communities. Private interests (in pursuit of capitalist
profit instead of advancing the social need of humanity) should never dominate every aspect of our
economic and social life. We need public power as the power of the people is powerful enough to
change lives positively.

Key Events of Flint Water Crisis

April 25, 2014
The city of Flint started to switch
their water usage to use the Flint
River as a water source.
Complaints soon follow.
September and October
2014
The city issued three boil
advisories for E. Coli and
September and in October,
General Motors stopped using
Flint water. Tit cited engine rusk
risk.
March 2015
The Emergency manager
overruled the vote to return to
Detroit water.
July 2015
There was a leaked EPA memo
cited serious lead concerns.
August 23, 2015
Virginia Teach researcher
Professor Marc Edwards raised
concerns about the corrosion and
lead pipes. He notifies the DEQ
that studied Flint’s water quality
issues. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha
led the Hurley Medical Center
lead poisoning study.
October 1, 2015
The DHHS confirmed the lead
problem. The City of Flint urged
its residents to not drink the
water.
November 13, 2015
Four families filed a federal class-
action lawsuit in the U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of
Michigan in Detroit against
Governor Rick Snyder and
thirteen other city and state
officials, including former Flint
Mayor Dayne Walling and ex-
emergency financial manager
Darnell Earley, who was in charge
of the city when the switch to the
Flint River was made.
December 15, 2015
Mayor Karen Weaver of Flint,
Michigan declared state of
emergency in Flint.
January 2016
Governor Snyder declared state of
emergency. Later, the Michigan
National Guard came to help with
water resource distributions.
Environmental Health

Environmental health is a key part of human development. When I was a child, I had asthma. I had
to take allergy shots throughout elementary school. I had to take medicine after having an episode
of asthma problems. Today, I don’t have symptoms of asthma anymore, but millions of people in
America and worldwide suffer asthma and environmental health issues right now. Therefore, this
issue is very personal with me and I desire our environment to be better. Environmental health
deals with the survival of humanity and the rest of the ecosystem plainly speaking. Therefore, we
believe in dealing with human health in progressive ways and building up the ecosystem. With the
recent flooding in California, it is important to invest in infrastructure in California and nationwide.
We want affordable housing for humanity. We have a problem of childhood lead poisoning that
must be addressed. We want noise pollution control. We don’t want hazardous waste released in the
environment. We believe in regulations that promote food safety involving agriculture,
transportation, food processing, etc. Recycling is important in building our lands and we want the
quality of life enhanced among the human family. The Toxicology and Environmental Health
Information Program (TEHIP) is a comprehensive toxicology and environmental health web site
that includes open access to resources produced by US government agencies and organizations. It is
maintained under the umbrella of the Specialized Information Service at the United States National
Library of Medicine. TEHIP includes links to technical databases, bibliographies, tutorials, and
consumer-oriented resources. It has databases too that give people information on important
environmental issues.
The organization Truth is one of the greatest organizations that fight smoking and air pollution. For
decades, activists have exposed the corrupt policies of Big Tobacco. We not only fight smoking, but
we believe in investing in helping people with smoking addiction and those who suffer illnesses and
diseases as a product of smoking. We don't want nonviolent people with drug addiction to be
placed into prison. We desire treatment for them. We know that low income neighborhoods are
more likely to have tobacco retailers near schools (some tobacco companies even came into the
Supreme Court to maintain advertising near school grounds). Drug companies in America target
cigarette ads in black communities more than in other communities (in about 10 times). That is
profiling and it’s wrong. The Michigan Civil Rights Commission said in a report that the Flint
drinking water crisis has its root causes in historical and systemic racism. It exposed the problem as
a complete failure of government and wants a rewrite of the state’s emergency manager law and bias
training for state officials. "Would the Flint water crisis have been allowed to happen in
Birmingham, Ann Arbor or East Grand Rapids?" the commission asks in the 135-page report. We
believe that the answer is no, and that the vestiges of segregation found in Flint made it a unique
target." "The people of Flint did not enjoy the equal protection of environmental or public health
laws, nor did they have a meaningful voice in the decisions leading up to the Flint water crisis," it
said. Some want emergency managers to be repealed to be replaced with more democratic
processes. Economic oppression and racism must end in the world.
 Knowing about Biology is very Important too.
Information on Genetics
DNA is the total
molecular basis for
biological inheritance. In
other words, what
genetic material that
Key Components of Genetics you have, existed from
your parents and from
• Chromosome your ancestors. Each
• DNA strand of DNA is a chain
• RNA of nucleotides matching
• Genome each other in the center.
• Heredity It forms to look like a
• Mutation twisted ladder.
• Nucleotide
• Variation
History of Activism

For centuries, heroes have fought to improve the environment. June 30, 1948 was the time when
there was the first piece of American legislation to lay down federal regulations of water quality. The
law was the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. It was passed by Congress. Known as FWPCA, it
would go through amendments in 1956, 1965, and 1972 in expanding the government’s authority in
water pollution control. Sulfur dioxide emissions killed 20 people and harm over 600 people who
went into the hospital in Donora, PA (in the date of October 30-31, 1948). It came in the form of
smog. This caused the first U.S. conference on air pollution in 1950 as it was sponsored by the
Public Health Service. Many people researched about how DDT caused the harm of the ecosystem
like the disappearance of butterflies in New Jersey. The Nature Conservancy was formed in D.C. in
1951. Its purpose was to protect ecologically important lands and waters worldwide. Since its
existence, it has protected more than 119 million acres of land and about 5,000 miles of rivers
globally. It has more than one million members today and operates more than 100 marine
conservation projects. A massive smog incident in New York City exacerbated asthma and other
lung conditions. It killed from 170 to 260 people in November of 1953. Extra smog incidents
would kill people in NYC again in 1962 and in 1966. The Paley Commission released Resources for
Freedom (on November 20, 1952) which details the United States’ increasing dependence on
foreign sources of natural resources and argues for the necessity to transition to renewable energy.
This document was one of the first to argue both for the dire need for Americans to stop their
reliance on oil and for the potential of solar energy to fulfill that chasm.
William Paley, chair of the presidential commission, establishes
Resources for the Future later in 1952, an organization
dedicated to independent environmental research. The Silent
World by Jacques Cousteau (of 1953) introduces the world to
underwater adventure, and ushered in a new global interest in
oceanic life. In 1956, Cousteau’s documentary film of the same
title will win the Academy Award for Best Documentary
Feature. Even President Eisenhower in 1955 talked about the
problem of air pollution in his State of the Union Address and
in a Special Message to Congress back in January of 1955. The This image shows the beautiful
Air Pollution Control Act was passed in July 14, 1955. It Columbia River. It’s found along
addressed air pollution and it’s the first legislation of its kind. It the border of the states of Oregon
dealt mostly with state control and the federal government had and Washington. It’s certainly our
no means of enforcement back then. The Sierra Club in April of responsibility to care for natural
1956 prevented the construction of Echo Park Dam in Utah. resources.
Carbon levels increased by 1960 in above 300 parts per million.
Rachel Carlson’s “Silent Spring” exposed the overuse of DDT in the environment. It wanted to
stop the overuse of pesticides. This book grew the modern environmental movement. President
John F. Kennedy charged his Science Advisory Committee to review the book’s claims. The
Committee reported that the conclusions in Silent Spring are generally correct, and by 1972 DDT
will be banned in the U.S. By 1961, California started to regulate emission standards in its vehicles.
The Clean Air Act of 1963 dealt with air pollution and emission starts.

LBJ said the following words in his State of the Union Address, in January 1965:

“...For over three centuries the beauty of America has sustained our spirit and has enlarged our
vision. We must act now to protect this heritage. In a fruitful new partnership with the States and
the cities the next decade should be a conservation milestone. We must make a massive effort to
save the countryside and to establish—as a green legacy for tomorrow—more large and small parks,
more seashores and open spaces than have been created during any other period in our national
history. A new and substantial effort must be made to landscape highways to provide places of
relaxation and recreation wherever our roads run. Within our cities imaginative programs are
needed to landscape streets and to transform open areas into places of beauty and recreation. We
will seek legal power to prevent pollution of our air and water before it happens. We will step up
our effort to control harmful wastes, giving first priority to the cleanup of our most contaminated
rivers. We will increase research to learn much more about the control of pollution.

We hope to make the Potomac a model of beauty here in the Capital, and preserve unspoiled
stretches of some of our waterways with a Wild Rivers bill.

More ideas for a beautiful America will emerge from a White House Conference on Natural Beauty
which I will soon call...”
 The U.S. President of the 20th century with the greatest environmental track record in history was
President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Lady Bird Johnson was in favor of environmental protections
too. LBJ signed more than 300 conservation measures into law. This was a foundation to much of
the protections of America’s land, water, and air. He passed the Highway Beautification Act, the
Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Clean Water Act, the Wilderness Act, the Endangered
Species Act, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and the creation of 47 new national parks.

LBJ’s Great Society was heavily pro-environment. The Water Quality Act of 1965 increased federal
control over water quality. The Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act sets the first federal
automobile emission standards. It was signed in October 20, 1965. LBJ famously stated on February
23, 1966:

“To sustain an environment suitable for man, we must fight on a thousand battlegrounds. Despite
all of our wealth and knowledge, we cannot create a redwood forest, a wild river, or a gleaming
seashore. But we can keep these we have.”
November 5, 1965 was the date when scientists told then President Lyndon Baines Johnson about
the dangerous of climate change as a product of carbon pollution. It has been found in a report.
Many people haven’t heard of this information until a few years ago. The report that LBJ’s science
advisory committee sent him was entitled, “Restoring the Quality of Our Environment.” Its
introduction has the following information: “…Pollutants have altered on a global scale the carbon
dioxide content of the air and the lead concentrations in ocean waters and human populations…”
The report also has another section. This section describes atmospheric carbon dioxide and climate
change, which was written by many prominent climate scientists. Their names are Roger Revelle,
Wallace Broecker, Charles Keeling, Harmon Craig, and J. Smagorinsky. The report says that in the
future years, people can reasonable project future global surface temperature changes. In 1974,
Wallace Broecker wrote about a pronounced global warming. This history shows that discusses
about climate change existed long before the Kyoto Protocol.

LBJ signed the Endangered Species Act, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and other progressive
legislation. Denis Hayes fought for environmental issues too. He and an U.S. Senator from
Wisconsin (on December 1969) organized a national environmental teach in about environmental
issues. Earth Day came about in April 1970. It wanted environmental justice and about 20 million
people in America alone participated in it. Nixon allowed Congress to pass the Environmental
Protection Agenda in handling American environmental policy. NOAA monitors oceans in 1970.
NOAA stands for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Nixon would pass
pro-environmental legislation. Activists from the 1970’s to the present would fight for alternative
energy, against toxic waste, for the protection of animal species, and for the development of our
society constructively. Many environmentalists in world history are John Muir, Rachel Carson,
Edward Abbey, Aldo Leopold, Julia Hill, Henry Davis Thoreau, Chico Mendes, Wangri Maathai,
Gaylord Nelson, David Brower, and other human beings.

Environmental justice
[means that] no community
should be saddled with more
environmental burdens and
less environmental benefits
than any other...”

-Majora Carter

These black people are Professor Robert Bullard and Majora Carter
A lot of the history book omits the contributions of black environmentalists, but right here, it is the
precise time to acknowledge the contributions of black people in the right for environmental justice.
Norris McDonald is an American environmental activist. He is the founder and President of the
African American Environmentalist Association and the Center for Environment, Commerce &
Energy. He is a very influential person who is promoting the enrichment of human, animal, and
plant ecologies. He has inspired more African Americans to be part of the environmental
movement since the 1980’s too. The AAEA (or the African American Environmental Association)
has worked hard to help society. The AAEA was founded in 1985. He has worked in the cause of
urban environmentalism to recycle, clean storm drains, weatherizing, and climate audit homes in
working class neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. Karen Washington is another political activist
and environmentalist. She grew up in New York City. She has received her masters in occupational
biomechanics and ergonomics from New York University in 1981. She has worked for food justice
in the Bronx with her Garden of Happiness. She has fought for the development of community
gardens in NYC despite Giuliani’s attempts to stop them during the 1990’s. She has given many
people educational opportunities and wisdom about agricultural training. She advances social justice
and community based solutions to this very day. In 2010 Black Urban Growers put on the first
annual Black Farmers and Urban Growers Conference with over 500 participants. Their mission is
"to engage people of African descent in critical food and farm-related issues that directly impact our
health, communities, and economic security." Tanya Fields has helped many people on
environmental issues.

Happy 50th Year Anniversary of Earth Day

Paul Tinari officially This is the unofficial These are young

launched the first Earth Day Flag children fighting for
Canadian Earth Day created by John environmental justice in
on September 11, 1980 McConnell includes the midst of growing
– included are Flora The Blue Marble climate change. The
MacDonald MP, Ken photograph taken by environmental involving
Keyes and Dr. Ronald the crew of Apollo 17 pollution, water, plant
Watts. The image is life, and other aspects of
from Kingston Public biodiversity.
Broadcasting -
Kingston TV Coverage
of Earth Day.

Kari Fulton has worked in Louisiana for years in order to promote environmental justice. Lisa
Jackson has worked in environmental causes for decades. Majora Cater was born in the South
Bronx. For long years, she has promoted Sustainable South Bronx, which promotes environmental
solutions. She has made many accomplishments over the course of her life. Robert Bullard is called
the father of the environmental justice movement. He is a great professor at Texas Southern
University. He has fought against environmental racism. Environmental racism is about how many
minority communities experience a disproportionate amount of pollutants or these areas are denied
basic human resources (like clean air, water, and natural resources) by design of a neoliberal system.
Many areas of the world are polluted more so than others. In other words, toxic waste dumping will
not occur massively in Beverly Hills, but it does occur in poorer communities nationwide plus
worldwide. Professor Doyle Bullard has worked hard throughout his life. Our eyes are still on the
prize.

By Timothy

Always Love Nature