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Warpy

(114,624 posts)

4. What made the biggest difference was getting away from coal heating

Sun Feb 26, 2017, 06:23 PM

Feb 2017

The stuff was filthy but it burned hot so it was cheap. Every town I lived in growing up had a pinkish-gray cloud over it and the air stank of coal smoke. The reason nobody ever wore white after Labor Day was that's about when we'd start getting soot in the air that would turn anything white tattletale grey within the hour.

They're trying to gut the EPA now because the pre EPA days were when Daddy Koch made all his money and the boys don't think they're getting to be trillionaires fast enough. It costs to clean up.

I'm a little surprised they didn't include the Cuyahoga River in those pictures. It caught fire several times before the Clean Water Act (part of the EPA) was passed.

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Cuyahoga_River_Fire

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This is what America looked like before the EPA cleaned it up [View all] Jimbo101 Feb 2017 OP

Great photographs and reminders. yallerdawg Feb 2017 #1

Yup ! Jimbo101 Feb 2017 #3

I'm almost Jamaal510 Feb 2017 #37

And who could forget THIS beautiful sight: ret5hd Feb 2017 #2

Ugh. I feel like chanting 'koyaanisqatsi' when I see that. (n/t) SMC22307 Feb 2017 #5

Beat me to it. I was there for one of the times it burned. FailureToCommunicate Feb 2017 #12

but they burned the river down Warren DeMontague Feb 2017 #33

What made the biggest difference was getting away from coal heating Warpy Feb 2017 #4

One of the links in the story drmeow Feb 2017 #29

Before that, when I was in elementary school, we had smog alerts here in L.A. calimary Feb 2017 #6

I moved to Denver in 1984 mountain grammy Feb 2017 #7

K&Fuckin'R Guy Whitey Corngood Feb 2017 #8

in the early sixties, we actually burned our trash....plastic & all per the city spanone Feb 2017 #9

Yep. We actually had a backyard incinerator at home! Oh, and raked leaves got tblue37 Feb 2017 #10

what we had was like a 'basket' that held the garbage bags as they burned... spanone Feb 2017 #19

I remember what America looked like elmac Feb 2017 #11

Yeah, I remember when the nearby river flowed the color of ink... roamer65 Feb 2017 #13

I guess it will be soon back to that state. LisaL Feb 2017 #14

The worst part of it is the regulations that are upsetting people have minimal real impact Amishman Feb 2017 #42

I remember left-of-center2012 Feb 2017 #15

Yep. Just look at any other country around the world that doesn't have enviro regulations. ffr Feb 2017 #16

Kick Lilyhoney Feb 2017 #17

when i was a kid living in a burb of los angles we couldnt play outside due to the smog was so ba AllaN01Bear Feb 2017 #18

No pictures of Birmingham, Ala. - was super bad!! Laf.La.Dem. Feb 2017 #20

Cincinnati in 60's sammcgee68 Feb 2017 #21

Make American air and water polluted again! Sad! Fred Sanders Feb 2017 #22

cat enid602 Feb 2017 #40

And you KNOW we're going back there under The Toxin Kid world wide wally Feb 2017 #23

The EPA also regulated nuclear emmissions, as well as things like lead (Pb). Crash2Parties Feb 2017 #24

A long way to go Marthe48 Feb 2017 #25

No one thinks it's perfect Nevernose Feb 2017 #26

I was lamenting Marthe48 Feb 2017 #41

Where I grew up they used to empty raw sewage into the river for a town of 10,000! RKP5637 Feb 2017 #27

1969 Cuyahoga River fire struggle4progress Feb 2017 #28

USEPA: we salute you! NCjack Feb 2017 #30

human health KT2000 Feb 2017 #31

Right at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers in Idaho was a cesspool in the early 70's brewens Feb 2017 #32

How soon until such images are banned by Pres Bannon & the new American Overlords? Stinky The Clown Feb 2017 #34

I remember a time when LA would have smog alerts because it was so bad. AgadorSparticus Feb 2017 #35

I remember the air pollution mostly bhikkhu Feb 2017 #36

I remember the smog in downtown L.A. in the early 70s making my eyes sting. SunSeeker Feb 2017 #38

I remember the smog alerts the Nat. Weather would put out.... Historic NY Feb 2017 #39