Link: https://junkscience.com/2020/04/eco-reality-strikes-back-earth-day-at50/#more-102463 Please see link above for original text, embedded hotlinks and comments.
Eco-Reality Strikes Back: Earth Day At 50 By Steve Milloy, JunkScience.com April 19, 2020 Good News Drowned Out by Apocalyptic and Agenda-Driven Hysteria: “You didn’t clean that up.” Summary: Americans began cleaning up their industrialized environment in the late 1940s ⎯ well before the first Earth Day in 1970. Since then, many decades of efforts have produced a U.S. environment that is as clean as any industrialized society in the world, especially considering a population of 330 million with a historically unparalleled high standard of living. In fact, this high standard of living is what made environmental clean-up desirable and possible. Air quality. U.S. air is as clean as it has ever been. From 1980 to 2018, except where noted [Source: U.S. EPA]: • • • • • • •
Carbon monoxide, down 83% Lead, down 99% Nitrous oxides, down 61% Ozone, down 31% Particulate matter (10 micrograms & below), down 26% Particulate matter (2.5 micrograms & below), down 39% (2000-2018) Sulfur dioxide, down 91%
Drinking Water. “Generally, water systems in the United States provide reliable and high-quality drinking water. Violations tend to be infrequent.” Source: PNAS Surface waters. U.S. surface waters are as clean as any in the world and progress continues to be made. Since 2005, 832 bodies of water have been restored from runoff/non-point-source pollution. Under President Trump’s leadership, this includes 131 bodies of water. [Source: EPA] Waste sites. Superfund waste site clean ups have accelerated under the Trump administration [Source: EPA]: • •
Last two years of Obama EPA – 9 sites cleaned up, vs. First two years of the Trump EPA – 28 sites cleaned up 1