Climate Change In The United States

Last year, the United States government spent roughly eight billion dollars on the environment (EPA.gov). Since 1970, many acts to protect the environment have been established such as the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act, not to mention the countless environmental committees and councils which have been established. Such programs are evidence that the United States government has worked vigorously to help control our impact on the environment. Because of this work America does not need to implement new regulations to decrease the average American’s environmental footprint. Instead of focusing on issues that the government has already addressed, the United States needs to reroute its interest to more impending problems.

In 1972, Congress was concerned with the nation’s water pollutants. The Clean Water Act, also called the CWA, was created to set limits on the water contaminants in hopes of protecting the nation’s water sources. “Twenty-five years ago, only one-third of the nation’s waters were safe for fishing and swimming,” reported Tim Martins. Since the making of the CWA, the percent of the nation’s clean water source has doubled. The United States continues to reduce the runoff deposited in clean water

One of the greatest problems the environment suffers from is climate change, caused by high levels of carbon dioxide in the air. America should recognize climate change is a problem caused by carbon dioxide and can create serious air pollution; which leads to horrific weather conditions such as droughts, hurricanes, and fires. Although this may be true, President Obama created the Clean Power Plan. This is a new law that sets a limit on the amount of carbon dioxide let into the air from factories and businesses. Moreover, the United States has done enough to help the environment and should start focusing on other important issues.