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Response to silent spring by rachel carson
Analyze: What are the effects of the problem? in Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
Outline of an essay over why rachel carson wrote silent spring and what she hoped to accomplish in writing this essay
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The Establishment of the EPA
Nothing was more important in the birth of the EPA than the decades of extremely obvious pollution, but pollution is not all that contributed to the birth of the EPA.The ideas of one author brought this upfront and attracted immediate public attention. Published in 1962, Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring', a critical look at pollution in the United States, jump-started the environmental movement. Carson, who was a bird watcher, created her book from her fear that fewer species of birds would be singing each spring unless pesticide poisoning was curtailed. The readers of her book, however, were less alarmed by the prospect of a "Silent Spring" than they were about people dying from any number of hidden poisons lurking in what had previously seemed a mild environment. It was not hard to become hysterical after reading in Carson's book that "the common salad bowl may easily present a combination of organic phosphate insecticides" that could "interact" with lethal consequences to the unsuspecting salad consumer.
Another huge event in the
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Senator Henry M. Jackson proposed and helped write S 1075, the bill that eventually became the National Environmental Policy Act.The Environmental Protection Agency was formed by President Nixon in 1970 after the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was passed. It combined the Federal Water Quality Administration and the US Public Health Service into one entity, and William D. Ruckelshaus was appointed the first administrator. Administrator Ruckelshaus served from 1970 to 1973 (and later from 1983 to 1985) and was focused on strengthening the agency’s organization and structure.During his early tenure he oversaw a seven month long investigation on DDT, a carcinogenic pesticide, after which he instituted a ban of DDT DDT was the pesticide featured in Rachel Carson’s 1962 book ‘Silent Spring’ as a threat to wildlife, and perhaps to
Silent Spring is one of the most important books of the environmental movement. It was one of the first scientific books to talk about destruction of habitat by humans. As a result, one can imagine that Ms. Rachel Carson needed to be quite persuasive. How does she achieve this? In this excerpt from Silent Spring, Carson utilizes the rhetorical devices of hyperbole, understatement, and rhetorical questions to state the necessity of abolishing the practice of using poisons such as parathion. Carson starts out by using the symbiotic nature of hyperbole and understatement to paint the whole practice as dangerous and unnecessary. She further strengthens her argument by using rhetorical questions to make her readers see the ethical flaws and potential casualties caused by deadly pesticides.
Rachel Carson, before publishing Silent Spring, would major in marine zoology at Pennsylvania Women's College, where she would develop her interest in the naturalism and conservation going on at the time (Lear, 23). After graduating, she would take a job at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, where she would write about different issues concerning the environment at the time. After writing several books to some success, she would begin work on Silent Spring, as she would find her naturalist causes to be her impetus. She even later on in her life wrote to her friends, What I discovered was that everything which meant most to me as a naturalist was being threatened, and that nothing I could do would be more important. " (Carson, 17)
To conclude, Rachel Carson is a skilled writer who employs many different rhetorical strategies and formats her information in a deliberate way to maximize the effectiveness of her argument. She appeals to emotion, but supplements her points with facts, examples, and expert opinions. Her book, Silent Spring, surely convinced many of the dangers of poisons like parathion, and inspired some to seek alternatives to aerial
By citing credible organizations and offering her own eco-friendly alternatives, she proves to the reader that she takes a particular interest in the environment and is educated to speak on it. Pairing powerful understatements and hyperboles to contrast with one another show the reader that the practice is both needless and selfish. These rhetorical techniques have a powerful impact on the reader, whose ignorance prior to reading the excerpt can no longer suffices to excuse the lack of action. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is a deeply persuasive book that not only advocates for an end to pesticides but also speaks to the obligation humans hold to protect their
He delves into the history of the word “environmental” as well as the history of environmental activism. He pinpoints the beginning of the movement to Rachel Carson. According to Quammen, she began the revolution by publishing her book Silent Spring. He says the negative connotations of the word began with her book, pairing “environment” and “the survival of humankind” as if they go hand in hand. This played a major role in the distortion of the word and the intentions of environmentalists.
The pesticide DDT banned in 1987 was a detrimental to the environment leading to it to be banned in 1987. DDT remains in the soils for a long period of time. The chemicals affect the ecology of the soil and water run off causing contamination of livestock and native animals and aquatic species. Studies indicated a range of human health impacts from DDT including cancers, infertility, miscarriage and nervous system impairment. The social and economic impact of DDT use in viticulture was significant.
The Baby Boomer generation and the time period has a lasting effect on the economy and the environment. The baby boom for the United States was similar to other countries after World War II. Several economies also blossomed, but overall with very little care for the environment. After World War II the use of industrial made chemicals increased in popularity throughout the United States and the world (The “New Environmentalism” OF THE 1960S). The chemical DDT was originally being used widespread to eradicate disease vectors, such as mosquito carrying Malaria ("The DDT Story."). DDT influenced more than just mosquitoes as it had lasting effects in the environment where it noticeably bioaccumulate in the food chain and caused high mortality in young bald eagles ("The DDT Story."). Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring released to the public in 1962 which is the time period in which environmental health and human health were connected (The “New
In 1962, the publication of Silent Spring Rachel Carson captivated the American public. Carson wrote about the harmful effects of chemical pesticides in the environment, and her writing was very reflective of the events occurring at the time. There is a strong connection between Carson’s writing and the Cold War. In fact, if it were not for the war, the American public may not have responded in the same way to Carson’s writing. Carson used tone and content as methods of getting her point across to the public. Silent Spring shined a light on the damage done to the environment as a result of the Cold War, and this issue was finally being recognized by American public.
Bleifuss, Joel. "A Deadly Disorder at the EPA." In These Times. Mar. 2013: p. 20. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.
chain. The use of lead in gasoline was phased out in '73 which caused lead
Kenneth Schiff wrote an editorial for the Marine Pollution Bulletin in 2014 where he asked environmental scientist about the effectiveness of the Clean Water Act. Three topics were discussed to support their approval; The Cuyahoga River, Platform A and declines in marine life. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio had hit a point 1969 where there was so much oil on the surface of that it caught on fire and now it has been deemed as fishable by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, thanks to the Clean Water Act. Platform A was located in Southern California. In 1969, an explosion occurred, causing 100,000 barrels of oil to devastate beaches along the Pacific Ocean and kill thousands of animals located in this region. Also discussed was the effects of hazardous substances, in this example DDT, on marine life. The use of this pesticide caused brown pelicans and California sea lions to experience intense decline in population- thanks to the Clean Water Act being followed by much research, restrictions and bans were able to be placed on these chemicals, allowing these populations to flourish once more. Within this editorial, there is also many who state that this Act has not been effective enough. One big argument is that the EPA has a list of pollutants that has not changed since the 1970’s yet in the last 40 years, there has
The environment and the health of the surrounding population go hand in hand. The Environmental Protection Agency takes on this ever so important mission of protecting them both. The mission statement of the EPA states, “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Small Business Programs is to support the protection of human health and the environment by advocating and advancing the business, regulatory, and environmental compliance concerns of small and socio-economically disadvantaged businesses, and minority academic institutions (US Enviromental Protection Agency, 2010).” The impact of its mission can be defined clearly as it examines the impact of contamination in the air, the water, and the land on human health.
Birds dying, leaves covered with deadly powder, chemicals floating through the air. These were all issues faced globally in the 1950’s and 60’s due to the use of dangerous pesticides such as DDT, chlordane, and heptachlor. Though several scientists conducted studies that proved the issues with pesticides, the first person to make a lasting impression on America was Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring. Her writing not only discussed the environmental issues that Americans faced in the 1960’s, but also served as the catalyst for the environmental movement as we know it today.
Our Congress created the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1969 in order to establish an environmental foundation for mankind. This policy endorses harmony between humans and the vast ecosystems surrounding them. To obtain this goal and provide our future with resources as well, NEPA is separated into two titles. The first title declares the policy in detail while the second title focuses on the Council on Environmental Quality. The CEQ oversees the effectiveness of current methods, the reactions of the environment to those methods, and implements revisions as necessary.
I remember when I first thought about the power one person could have to create change. I was a teenager growing up in the South when I read Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring”. This beautifully written book is a powerful indictment of the widespread use of pesticides. Rachel Carson criticized the chemical companies for claiming that pesticides were safe despite mounting evidence to the contrary. And she criticized public officials who accepted the chemical industry’s claims.