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Environment
Environmental Policy | Climate Change | Environmental Health & Quality | Environmental Law
Overview

The modern environmental movement in the United States began with the launch of the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Key pieces of U.S. environmental legislation followed, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970, the Clean Air Act of 1970, the Clean Water Act of 1972, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, and the Superfund Law of 1980, designed to clean up heavily polluted waste sites. Many of these laws and environmental initiatives were among the first of their kind in the world.

In consequence, the United States has made remarkable progress over the past 30 years in reducing pollution and protecting the environment within its borders. Statistics help tell the story. During this time, the U.S. economy grew by 187 percent, population grew by 39 percent, and energy consumption increased by 47 percent, yet air pollution decreased by 48 percent. In 2002, 94 percent of Americans were served by community water systems that met all health-based standards, up from 79 percent of the population in 1993.

The United States has taken a leadership role as a global environmental steward in developing a better understanding of environmental options and in shaping a sustainable approach to development. Achieving greater sustainability is a key objective in the provision and management of energy. New technologies offer the possibility of renewable energy sources that do not contaminate the air and water or release greenhouse gases or destroy Earth's protective ozone layer. New technologies also promise ways in which we may more efficiently utilize traditional energy resources.

Such technological innovation and development demand participation of all segments of society. In the United States, business, industry and science are increasingly playing critical roles in shaping national strategies for greater energy conservation and wiser resource management and disposal.

- Abridged from State Dept. Publications and other U.S. government materials
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