Environmental issues in the United States

Per capita anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions by country for the year 2000 including land-use change.

See also: Environment of the United States

As with many other countries there are a number of environmental issues in the United States.

Contents   [hide]  1 Issues 1.1 Climate change 1.2 Conservation 1.3 Deforestation 1.4 Energy 1.5 Invasive species 1.6 Mining 1.7 Nuclear 1.8 Pesticides 1.9 Pollution 1.9.1 Air pollution 1.9.2 Water pollution 1.9.2.1 Marine pollution 1.9.3 Solid and hazardous waste 1.10 Population 1.11 Waste 2 Environmental movement 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit]Issues

[edit]Climate change

Main article: Climate change in the United States

The United States is the second largest emitter, after China, of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.^[1] The energy policy of the United Statesis widely debated; many call on the country to take a leading role in fighting global warming.^[2] The U.S. is one of only two countries that has not signed up to the Kyoto Protocol.

See also: Kyoto protocol#United States

[edit]Conservation

Main article: Conservation in the United States

Many plant and animal species became extinct soon after first human settlement, including the North American megafauna; others have become nearly extinct since European settlement, among them the American Bison and California Condor.^[3]

The last of the passenger pigeons died in 1914 after being the most common bird in North America. They were killed as both a source of food and because they were a threat to farming. Saving the Bald Eagle, the national bird of the U.S., from extinction was a notable conservation success.

[edit]Deforestation

Main article: Deforestation in the United States

[edit]Energy

Main article: Energy in the United States

Satellite image showing the light output at night in the United States

Since about 86% of all types of energy used in the United States are derived from fossil fuelconsumption it is closely linked to greenhouse gas emissions. The energy policy of the United States is determined by federal, state and local public entities, which address issues of energy production, distribution, and consumption, such as building codes and gas mileage standards.

[edit]Invasive species

Main article: Invasive species in the United States

Invasive species

[edit]Mining

Main article: Mining in the United States

[edit]Nuclear

The most notable accident involving nuclear power in the United States was the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station has been the source of two of the top five most dangerous nuclear incidents in the United States since 1979.^[4]

Nuclear safety in the United States is governed by federal regulations and continues to be studied by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The safety of nuclear plants and materials controlled by the U.S. government for research and weapons production, as well those powering naval vessels, is not governed by the NRC.

The anti-nuclear movement in the United States consists of more than eighty anti-nuclear groups which have acted to oppose nuclear power and/ornuclear weapons in the USA. The movement has delayed construction or halted commitments to build some new nuclear plants,^[5][6] and has pressured the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to enforce and strengthen the safety regulations for nuclear power plants.^[7] Anti-nuclear campaigns that captured national public attention in the 1970s and 1980s involved the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant,Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, and Three Mile Island.^[5]

[edit]Pesticides

Main article: Pesticide use in the United States

Pesticide use in the United States is predominately by the agricultural sector. and about a quarter of pesticides used are used in houses, yards, parks, golf courses, and swimming pools.^{[citation needed]}

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) was first passed in 1947, giving the United States Department of Agriculture responsibility for regulating pesticides. In 1972, FIFRA underwent a major revision and transferred responsibility of pesticide regulation to the Environmental Protection Agency and shifted emphasis to protection of the environment and public health.

[edit]Pollution

Main article: Pollution in the United States

[edit]Air pollution

Main article: Air pollution in the United States

[edit]Water pollution

Main article: Water pollution in the United States

[edit]Marine pollution

See also: Cruise ship pollution in the United States and Regulation of ship pollution in the United States

[edit]Solid and hazardous waste

Main article: Hazardous waste in the United States

At 760 kg per person the United States generates the greatest amount of municipal waste.^[8]

[edit]Population

Main article: Population of the United States

The total U.S. population crossed the 100 million mark around 1915, the 200 million mark in 1967, and the 300 million mark in 2006 (estimated on Tuesday, October 17).^[9][10] The U.S. population more than tripled during the 20th century — a growth rate of about 1.3 percent a year — from about 76 million in 1900 to 281 million in 2000. This is unlike most European countries, especially Germany, Russia, Italy and Greece, whose populationsare slowly declining, and whose fertility rates are below replacement.

Population growth is fastest among minorities, and according to the United States Census Bureau's estimation for 2005, 45% of American children under the age of 5 are minorities.^[11] In 2007, the nation’s minority population reached 102.5 million.^[12] A year before, the minority population totaled 100.7 million. Hispanic and Latino Americans accounted for almost half (1.4 million) of the national population growth of 2.9 million between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006.^[13]

Based on a population clock maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau, the current U.S. population, as of 5:55 GMT (EST+5) 27 April 2012 is 313,437,337.^[14] A 2004 U.S. Census Bureau report predicted an increase of one third by the year 2050.^[15] A subsequent 2008 report projects a population of 439 million, which is a 44% increase from 2008.

[edit]Waste

Main article: Waste in the United States

See also: Electronic waste in the United States

[edit]Environmental movement

Main article: Environmental movement in the United States

In the United States today, the organized environmental movement is represented by a wide range of organizations sometimes called non-governmental organizations or NGOs. These organizations exist on local national and international scales. Environmental NGOs vary widely in political views and in the amount they seek to influence the government. The environmental movement today consists of both large national groups and also many smaller local groups with local concerns. Some resemble the old U.S. conservation movement - whose modern expression is the Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society and National Geographic Society - American organizations with a worldwide influence.

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Forest and Climate

When forests are destroyed, they release large quantities of CO₂ into the atmosphere, which contributes to climate change.

WWF'S REDD+ ASKS FOR UNFCCC

• Learn more about WWF's efforts at UNFCCC meetings

Winning the fight against climate change

Forests have a critical role to play in combating global warming. And WWF's Forest & Climate Initiative has a strategy to win that battle. This includes:

• ensuring that any new climate change deal provides incentives to reduce emissions from deforestation and land degradation
• assisting countries, especially developing countries, develop national and regional approaches that tackle forest-based emissions and benefit local communities

USEFUL LINKS

• What's driving deforestation?
• What is REDD+?
• WWF's work on forests and climate
• Forests in climate negotiations
• WWF position on forests and climate change mitigation

Protect trees, reduce carbon emissions

Forests are the largest storehouse of carbon after the oceans. However, when forests are destroyed by activities such as logging and land conversion for agriculture, they release large quantities of CO₂ and othergreenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Reducing deforestation and forest degradation must be part of the solution to the global climate change problem.

BRAZIL FOREST CODE

• WWF's response to changes to the Brazil Forest Code

BRAZIL FOREST CODE - VETO IT ALL

• 

  Brazilian Forest Code - Veto It All

  PDF 205 KB

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The Solutions

By 2050, we could get all the energy we need from renewable sources.

Achieving this goal IS possible.

WWF's Energy Report is a provocative vision of a world run entirely on renewable energy by 2050.

This will solve most of the problems of climate change and dwindling fossil fuel resources.

Paramount will be the substantive increase in measures to conserve energy in all sectors.

We can show that such a transition is not only possible but also cost-effective, providing energy that is affordable for all and producing it in ways that can be sustained by the global economy and the planet.

© WWF-Canon / Michel GUNTHER

Energy efficiency may well be the most rapid and cost-effective tool to reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, yet it is still overlooked by many businesses and governments. Increases in energy efficiency must be seen as a crucial part of reducing CO₂ emissions and minimising our dependence on fossil fuels.

Renewable energy generated from natural sources – water, wind, solar, biomass or geothermal (need to be explained so best to have links to these)– will play a key role in replacing the world's dependence on fossil fuel based energy sources, such as coal, oil and natural gas which are not renewable. This means once that source of energy has been used, it is gone!

Carbon-capture and storage (CCS) is technology that removes and stores the CO₂ during the production of energy from fossil fuels. With further research and investment, CSS technology may prove to be the bridging technology needed to 'get us over the line'.

Preventing forest loss will go a long way to reducing the threat of climate change. Forests are the largest storehouse of carbon, after coal and oil. When they are destroyed – by logging and clearing for developing – massive quantities of CO₂ is released into the atmosphere.


What businesses can do 
Business has a vital role in implementing technologies that reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Making increasingly better use of resources in manufacturing processes and creating better-performing products with ever-lower energy demands is becoming part of normal business practice.

WWF is working with cutting-edge companies keen to turn necessity into a business advantage.

We believe there are enormous opportunities for businesses to improve their standing and their bottom line through positive actions that cut CO₂emissions.

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The Science in a Nutshell

We know greenhouse gases such as CO₂ warm the air by trapping heat radiating from the Earth’s surface. 

That is 100-year-old science.

The first calculations that doubling CO₂ in the atmosphere would raise temperatures by 2-6ºC were done over a century ago by Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius.

Today’s climate models broadly agree.

We know the world is warming, on average by 0.74ºC during the past century, with most of that since 1970. Human-made CO₂ is responsible for the vast majority of the warming.

Concentrations of CO₂ in the atmosphere are now almost 40% above those of 200 years ago and emissions to the atmosphere have been rising by more than 2% a year since 2000.

This extra greenhouse gas stems overwhelmingly from humans burning fossil fuels and destroying forests, both of which are made of carbon.

It would contradict 100 years of physics if this CO₂ were not warming the planet. 

Moreover, there is no alternative explanation for the observed warming.

Solar cycles have contributed on average less than 10% in the past decades whereas volcanic eruptions and other known natural influences on global climate have been having a cooling influence since 1970 – the period of greatest overall warming and of the largest increase in atmospheric CO₂ and other greenhouse gas levels.

• The impacts of climate change
• How to answer a climate sceptic
• The other side of the coin...

Historic carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning 1900-1999

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What causes climate change?

Earth is a very special planet – it is close enough to the sun to receive a lot of energy, but far enough not to be scorched. 
It is in what you might call the "goldilocks zone", where the conditions are just right for life as we know it.

To help keep these conditions just right, our planet is wrapped in a layer of greenhouse gases. 

This layer keeps the globe warm like a blanket, shielding it from the cold universe – commonly referred to as the greenhouse effect.

While not being the most potent greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main driver for the greenhouse effect.

And this is where we have a problem.

The cause of climate change is the unlimited burning of fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas - releasing CO2 in the atmosphere at an ever increasing rate. 

Because of this the layer of greenhouse gas gets thicker, which in turn makes the Earth warmer.

The reason we do this is to satisfy our hunger for energy. But thanks to human ingenuity there are now smarter ways to make energy.

ABOUT CARBON DIOXIDE

CO2 can be harmless enough when dissolved in a drink – it adds sparkle to mineral water, soft drinks and champagne. However, when excess amounts are released into the atmosphere it can cause untold damage. Read how CO2 causes global warming.

Where does the CO2 come from? 

In terms of fuels, the main problem is coal. The other key reason is waste – inefficient use of energy.

And in terms of industries, the main culprit is electricity production – the power industry.

© WWF Germany / Andrew Kerr

Culprit coal

The biggest climate polluter is the global power sector, and it generates around 40% of all global electricity from coal. We need electricity - but when you take into account the true cost of coal there are much better ways to get it! 
According to the International Energy Agency the power sector is responsible for 37% of all man-made Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions. It creates about 23 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions per year – in excess of 700 tonnes a second.

In turn, this CO2 continues to heat up our planet and pose an unprecedented threat to us and the environment. Read more here on the impacts of climate change.

Generating electricity through the burning of fossil fuels, in particular carbon-heavy coal, has a greater impact on the atmosphere than any other single human activity.

Coal is the world's most widely available fossil fuel

Weaning humanity off coal will not be easy. There is an estimated 2 billion people with no access to domestic electricity, and recoverable reserves of coal exist in about 70 countries, according to the World Coal Institute, an industry lobby group (the largest are in the United States, Russia and China). It is considered a cheap form of energy.

But coal is not cheap - if you have to pay for it all

The true cost of coal cannot be found on any balance sheet, but in the lives and health of people and ecosystems. If the global power sector could be made fully accountable for the true costs of pollution and climate change, it would probably turn away from fossil fuel overnight.

Too many governments still subsidize coal production and this distorts the energy market. OECD countries support their coal industry with a whopping $30 billion USD annually.

Much cleaner renewable energies are hampered in their ability to compete with a dirty fuel that is subsidized. Politicians have the power to remove fossil-fuel subsidies or, better still, transfer them to renewable energy.

When the true cost is taken into account, renewable energy begins to look by far the best option for a healthy and sustainable future.

WHY COAL CAUSES SO MUCH ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE

Coal is the most carbon-rich of all fossil fuels. Burning coal generates 70% more carbon dioxide (CO₂) than natural gas for every unit of energy produced. Coal is the sedimentary organic rock formed from vegetation that lived millions of years ago.

The most mature coal variety, anthracite - hard, black and lustrous - is nearly pure carbon, and has historically been regarded as useful to humans because of its high energy content. But dirty brown coal, or lignite, produces most CO₂ per unit of energy.

Above all, more than a third of all global electricity is generated from coal - it is the power sector's single biggest source of energy.

Browse the map of Europe's worst coal fired power stations.

© WWF

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