american buffalo

Peter Dykstra: Forgotten history

Early laws that were either the first step in environmental protection or the last straw in Native American genocide.

Let’s start by throwing a little shade on two central myths of American environmental history: That Teddy Roosevelt and Richard Nixon were the only Republican presidents to lift a finger on behalf of the environment.
As for lifting fingers, most—but not all—of the rest lifted the same finger against the environment. (Hint: It’s the same finger that we native New Jerseyans use during minor traffic disputes.)

McKinley’s laws

Republican president William McKinley, however, signed into law the predecessors of the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act. The Rivers and Harbors Act was passed by Congress and signed by McKinley in 1899. The oldest pollution law in the U.S., a section of this law called the Refuse Act offers criminal penalties for dumping in waterways, and rewards for those who turn in dumpers. Mostly ignored until the 1960’s, the law was deployed in the fight to clean up the Hudson River before it was leveraged into the Clean Water Act.

The Clean Water Act was passed by Congress in 1972, but Nixon did not sign it into law, as he did with the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and more. Nixon vetoed the CWA as too expensive, and with bipartisanship not seen in recent years, Congress overrode the veto.

In 1900, McKinley signed the Lacey Act, one of the first sweeping wildlife protection laws. The Act limited the interstate and international trafficking in fish, birds, mammals, and plants. It’s still in effect and has been a source of somewhat recent headlines: in 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service used the Lacey Act to bust Gibson Guitars for using illegally imported Madagascar rosewood.

Gibson denied the charges as Fox News and other conservative news outlets had a field day telling the latest tale of Big Government picking on a beloved American institution. A year later, Gibson quietly fessed up, paying a $300,000 settlement.

It’s also worth noting that while the arch-conservationist Teddy Roosevelt served as McKinley’s vice president, he was not yet VP when the Rivers and Harbors Act and the Lacey Act were signed into law.

Land-use laws as a tool of genocide

It’s been more than 200 years since the first land use law, which seemed designed to throw Native Americans off their land.

In 1820 Congress passed the Land Act, dropping the price of an acre of unclaimed land by 40%. It is considered a crucial step in America’s westward expansion at a time when “the West” meant anything west of the Appalachian Mountains.

In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed and championed a more honestly named law, the Indian Removal Act, making it a federal policy to evict eastern Indian tribes, relocating them in mostly unexplored land west of the Mississippi.

In the middle of the Civil War, President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act of 1862. Western pioneers were promised 160-acre tracts if they occupied the land for at least five years

Other laws helped open up the West to loggers. And last week I wrote about the 1872 Mining Law, still swindling after all these years,

The wholesale slaughter of bison that marked the conquest of the West had ended by 1880: there were no more bison left to kill. At least two prominent leaders, Civil War hero Gen. Phil Sheridan and Interior Secretary Columbus Delano, endorsed the slaughter as the best way to wipe out Plains Indian culture.

Many of the estimated 500 surviving bison were relocated to the new Yellowstone National Park. But no federal law protected the decimated herd until 1894, when a new law outlawed killing a buffalo. A conviction drew a $1,000 fine and possible prison time. Intensive public/private efforts have built the population back up to an estimated 300,000.

Peter Dykstra is our weekend editor and columnist and can be reached at pdykstra@ehn.org or @pdykstra.

His views do not necessarily represent those of Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate, or publisher Environmental Health Sciences.

Banner photo: Yellowstone buffalo. (Credit: Tony Hisgett/flickr)

The flag of the Department of Homeland Security featuring a flying eagle grasping a branch and arrows in its claws.

Texas floods reignite fight over FEMA and weather cuts

Catastrophic floods in central Texas have deepened partisan divides in Congress, with Democrats accusing President Trump’s administration of weakening the country’s ability to prevent and respond to natural disasters.

Andres Picon reports for E&E News.

Keep reading...Show less
A burned classic truck sitting in a burned forest.

California faces growing disaster costs as Trump moves to scale back FEMA aid

As California rebuilds from its deadliest wildfire season in years, state officials warn that President Trump’s proposed cuts to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aid could leave communities without the support they need to recover.

Jeremy Lindenfeld reports for Capital & Main.

Keep reading...Show less
Scientist using pipette to place liquid into containers.
Credit: National Cancer Institute/Unsplash

EPA union demands reinstatement of staff punished for calling out political interference

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency staff who criticized Trump-era rollbacks are now on forced leave, sparking claims of illegal retaliation.

Leah Douglas reports for Reuters.

Keep reading...Show less
white airplane flying under the blue sky

Zeldin releases EPA data on contrails and solar geoengineering amid Texas flood backlash

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin pledged to release internal data on weather-modification technologies after conspiracies surged in the wake of deadly Texas flooding.

Kevin Bogardus and Ellie Borst report for E&E News.

Keep reading...Show less
person with umbrella walking on road between green grass field during daytime.

Climate change is disrupting South Asia’s monsoon and raising flood risks

Erratic monsoon rains driven by climate change are fueling deadly floods, landslides, and glacial lake overflows across South Asia.

Sibi Arasu reports for The Associated Press.

Keep reading...Show less
An Amazon village on the edge of a river.

Massive Amazon raids disrupt illegal mining, logging, and wildlife trafficking networks

More than 1,500 officers from four countries carried out sweeping raids in the Amazon Basin, arresting 94 people and seizing over $64 million in assets linked to environmental crime.

Steven Grattan reports for The Associated Press.

Keep reading...Show less
Electricity grid towers stretching across fields into the distance.

Europe’s power grid upgrades fall €250 billion short as demand surges

Europe’s top electricity grid operators face a massive funding gap as they race to expand and modernize infrastructure needed to meet rising demand, a new report warns.

Nina Chestney reports for Reuters.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.