问答题 (46) The 1960s, the public awakened to the belief that the environment had become polluted with numerous dangerous by-products of industry. Making the environment whole again, many argued, was more important than rapid economic growth. The environmental movement did not break completely with the earlier emphasis on conservation, but there were important differences. (47) The conservationists had emphasized the management of resources to sustain long-term yields of timberland, farmland, water, and mineral resources; the environmentalists put more emphasis on the preservation of natural resources for future aesthetic enjoyment, and they emphasized the interdependence of different parts of the environment. It was not sufficient, in other words, simply to preserve patches of the environment in national parks; the whole environment had to be protected from the destructive side effects of economic development.
The growing concern about the environment was not confined to the United States; other industrialized countries, particularly those in Western Europe, experienced the same phenomenon. (48) On the other hand, less-developed countries, those just beginning the process of industrialization, displayed what appeared to more developed countries to be frustrating and cavalier attitude toward the environment. A clean and well-preserved environment appears to be a luxury good: as income rises, consumers wish to spend a larger fraction of their income on it.
Although concern about the environment remained constant, public attention in the United States shifted from problem to problem, depending on the events of the day. (49) In the early 1960s, Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring heightened concern about the danger of indiscriminate pesticide use, and as a result, the Department of Agriculture banned the use of DDT completely in 1969. That same year, a major oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, raised concerns about the danger of offshore oil drilling, and similar fears were raised about the impact of the proposed Alaska Pipeline.
As in other areas of concern to the American society, legislation and regulations play a crucial role in pollution control. The acts, as shown below, reflect the scope of environment legislation since 1970: acts to promote clean air, clean water, and even quiet work and living environments. (50) Of major importance was the creation in 1970 of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal agency charged with enforcing laws designed to protect the environment. Since then, the EPA has produced a virtual flood of regulations. Typically, the EPA sets a maximum level of pollution allowed based on the "best available technology. " In many cases, the EPA must set literally hundreds of standards for each pollutant. For example, the EPA works out a separate standard for each model of automobile. When they are aware of a pollution problem, many firms respond to it rather than wait to be cited by the EPA. But other owners and managers take the position that environmental standards are too strict, i.e. compliance with present standards is too expensive. Consequently, it has often been necessary for the EPA to take legal action to force firms to install antipollution equipment and clean up waste storage areas.