Timeline of GreenHouse-Gas Events (since I was born)
1955 - Whiting, Indiana; Oil refinery "explosion crushed nearby houses...and hurtled steel fragments into nearby homes.”
1956 - The Federal-Aid Highway Act becomes law. There were 625 billion Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT of cars and trucks).
The average U.S. vehicle got around 15 Miles Per Gallon of gasoline (MPG).
Today those numbers are: 3,25O billion VMT and 25 MPG. [figures approximate]
1957 - Springhill [coal] mining disaster; “a huge blast” “39 miners died, and 88 were rescued”.
1958 - Keeling CO2 observations begin; Charles David Keeling starts atmospheric measurements of carbon dioxide.
Present day CO2 [pollution] levels are more than 30% higher than in 1958.
1959 - Canadian government approves Project Oilsand; “to exploit the Alberta [tar] oil sands using...nuclear explosives”.
Project Oilsand was cancelled. Currently, “Canada...supplies nearly 1 million barrels [of oil] per day to the USA”.
1960 - World population reaches 3 billion; 2021 pop. estimate: 7,848,000,000.
1961 - The World Wildlife Fund founded; to preserve endangered species and natural wildlife habitats.
In 1937, 66 percent of the world was wilderness; today 33 percent of terrestrial areas are “wild”.
1962 - 28 natural disasters worldwide. The 21st century averages 350 natural disasters annually.
1963 - Hurricane Flora kills at least 7,193; near the Cape Verde Islands.
1964 - Wilderness Act signed; The Wilderness Act protects 9.1 million acres of U.S. federal land.
1965 - Unsafe at Any Speed published; “Ralph Nader’s book charged car manufacturers [with a] reluctance to spend money on improving safety...In response to Nader's criticisms, GM attempted to sabotage Nader's reputation”.
1966 - “Associated Milk Producers Inc. paid at least $91,691...to support Hubert H. Humphrey's presidential campaign”;
“Two former officials of the [cow] milk producers pleaded guilty...to conspiring to donate $22,000”.
1967 - Resignation of Leo Landreville; “Northern Ontario Natural Gas was...involved in a stock trading scandal that implicated the Supreme Court of Ontario judge, three Central Ontario mayors, and three members of {the} Premier's cabinet”.
1968 - Club of Rome founded; “problems…{such as} environmental deterioration [pollution], poverty, endemic ill-health, urban blight, criminality...are interrelated”.
1969 - Jock Yablonski murdered; “Yablonski clashed with Tony Boyle [President of the United Mine Workers]...
He believed that Boyle...was too cozy with the [coal] mine owners.”
1970 - Muammar Gaddafi takes over as Libya's premier. OPEC nations, following Gaddafi,
renegotiate contracts with international oil companies; “leading to a global increase in the price of crude oil”.[85]
1971 - Qatar gains independence from Britain; Qatar is #4 in the world in natural gas reserves, #14 in oil reserves.
1972 - Ford decides not to fix car defect; “A design improvement...was valued at $0.03, but the improvement was rejected by Ford...777 accidents occurred as a result of the defect.”
1973 - OAPEC starts oil embargo; by the end of the embargo in March 1974,[2] the price of oil had risen nearly 300%.
1974 - Testimony given re GM’s conspiracy conviction; San Francisco mayor...Joseph Alioto testified...that
[car maker] General Motors “carried on a deliberate concerted action with the oil companies and tire companies...
for the purpose of destroying...electric rapid transit".
1975 - Peter Singer‘s Animal Liberation published (A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals);
Beyond concern for the plight of animals, Singer also criticized the U.S. “for receiving oil from countries run by dictators ....
who pocket most of the financial gains, thus keeping the people in poverty."
1976 - Lockheed executives resign; “Lockheed...admitted paying millions in bribes...to {encourage officials to} buy...airplanes”.
1977 - Trans-Alaska Pipeline opens; Built partly in response to the 1973 oil crisis, which caused a sharp rise in oil prices.
To date it has shipped more than 17 billion barrels of oil.
1978 - Exxon researches global warming; these [oil] executives heard from an Exxon scientist that carbon dioxide
released by burning fossil fuel could eventually warm the planet to a catastrophic degree.
1979 - the 1979 Oil Shock; “caused by a drop in oil production in the wake of the Iranian Revolution...
raised the price of crude oil drastically over the next 12 months”.
1980 - Iraq invades Iran; “Iraq had planned to annex Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan Province...
around 500,000 Iraqi and Iranian soldiers died over the course of the war”.
1981 - Iran releases US hostages; following the overthrow of the US-friendly, oil-wealthy, dictator Shah Pahlavi in 1979,
students took 52 Americans hostage.
1982 - The constitution of Equatorial Guinea gives its president...extensive powers;
“He is widely suspected of using the country's oil wealth to enrich himself[52]...
in the top 12 list of most corrupt states...torture, beatings, unexplained deaths and illegal detention.”
1983 - Australia coal exports go over 50 million metric tons;
As of 2011, it has exported more than 275 million tons, much of it to Japan and China, using 40,000 workers.
1984 - Peabody acquires the West Virginia coal mines of Armco; “customers in more than 25 nations on six continents”.
1985 - Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer signed;
“HCFC production [took] off after countries agreed to phase out...CFCs...HCFCs are used for refrigeration...and air conditioning.”
Unfortunately, “HCFCs are very potent greenhouse gases”.
1986 - Charles Hurwitz acquires Pacific Lumber Company; “doubles its rate of timber harvesting as a means of paying off the acquisition cost. This enraged environmentalists and drew attention from government agencies because of the use of junk bonds.”
1987 - St. James Parish of St. Gabriel, Louisiana, becomes known as “Cancer Alley”;
Cancer Alley is one of the most well known environmental sacrifice zones. [pollution]
1988 - Chico Mendes murdered; “Mendes was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist.
He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for human rights.”
1989 - Exxon Valdez oil spill; “considered the worst oil spill worldwide in terms of damage to the environment”.
1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait; “Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing Iraqi petroleum [oil].”
1991 - Kazakhstan declares independence; “human rights organisations...describe Kazakhstan's human rights situation as poor...
Kazakhstan is the most dominant nation of Central Asia economically,
generating 60% of the region's GDP, primarily through its oil and gas industry.”
1992 - "150,000 coal miners march in London to protest...plans to close coal mines and reduce the number of coal miners."
1993 - Ecuadorians sue Texaco; “local residents, including five different Amazonian tribes...say that the oil company knowingly dumped 18bn gallons of toxic waste water and spilled 17m gallons of crude oil into the rainforest.”
1994 - Norwiegen voters reject joining the European Union; “partly because Norway has an economy based on oil.
There are large oil and gas reserves in Norway’s territorial waters.”
1995 - Ken Saro-Wiwa hanged; “Nigerian Ken Saro-Wiwa led a nonviolent campaign against environmental degradation...
by...the...petroleum industry, especially the Royal Dutch Shell {oil} company.”
1996 - Racist {oil} executives recordings revealed;
“In the glare of scandal, Texaco Inc...signed what may be the largest settlement of a racial discrimination lawsuit”.
1997 - Julia "Butterfly" Hill begins tree-sit; to stave off Pacific Lumber Co. loggers who were clear-cutting [forests].
1998 - Oprah Winfrey wins mad cow lawsuit;
“at least 10 people...died...from eating beef contaminated when cattle were fed...from the wastes of slaughtered cattle.”
1999 - Vladimir Putin becomes Prime Minister of Russia; “oil and gas constitute the majority of Russian exports...Human rights organizations and activists accuse Putin of persecuting...critics and activists as well as ordering them tortured or assassinated.”
2000 - The World Bank releases study of the environment;
“gas flaring in the Niger Delta...releases about 35 million tons of [CO2] and 12 million tons of methane each year.”
2001 - US Department of Agriculture (USDA) approves {Pink Slime} for limited human consumption;
Pink Slime is a food additive to ground beef and beef-based processed meats...
prepared using ammonia gas, [it] is banned for human consumption in the European Union.[7]
2002 - Chinese deaths from coal mining accidents peak at 6,995;
“Air pollution in China kills 750,000 people every year, according to a study by the World Bank.”
2003 - USDA bans the slaughter of downer cattle for human food;
“bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which often makes infected cattle downers, was found in two North American cows.”
2004 - The U.S. Iraq Survey Group issues its Final Report; "The ISG has not found...that Saddam [Hussein] possessed WMD.”
During the invasion, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz had“told the House Appropriations Committee[48]
that oil "revenue...would pay for Iraq's reconstruction.”
2005 - Massive chemical spill in Harbin, China;
“About 100 tons...spilled into the river {from} a petrol chemical plant...Benzene is a compound found in gasoline."
2006 - Enron trial starts; “formed in 1985 by Kenneth Lay after merging Houston Natural Gas…”
“indictment covered a broad range of financial crimes”.
2007 - Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow becomes president of Turkmenistan;
“has the world's fourth largest reserves of natural gas.[16] ...one of the world’s most repressive countries”.
2008 - Josh Fox receives an...offer to lease his...land...for $100,000 to drill for gas;
“He makes a film about his experience, ‘Gasland’.” (from Rotten Tomatoes):
"Gasland patiently and powerfully outlines alarming problems with modern fuel extraction -- and the horrific public health risks”.
2009 - President Barack Obama announces...an agreement to combat global warming;
“the U.S., China, India, Brazil, and South Africa reached an...accord that will set up a system for monitoring pollution reduction”.
“China's delegation said that ‘The meeting has had a positive result, everyone should be happy’."
World-wide greenhouse pollution emission levels rose every year in the decade that followed.
2010 - BP oil spill; “the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon...exploded and sank resulting in the death of 11 workers...
and the largest spill...of marine oil drilling operations.”
2011 - $10,825,368 fine against Massey coal company};
“the largest monetary penalty imposed by the US Mine Safety and Health Administration...resulting...from 369 citations.”
2012 - US Congressional Research Service report - Offshoring of Airline Maintenance;
“slipshod work done by overseas repair shops...—unlicensed mechanics, workers who don’t speak English,
and poor workmanship—are also present at some of these private American repair shops.”
2013 - China announces the Belt and Road initiative; “a global infrastructure development strategy”
“China is building or planning more than 300 coal plants
in places as widely spread as Turkey, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Egypt and the Philippines.”
2014 - ISIS declares Califate; ISIS “take control of Mosul...taking Tikrit and oil facilities in Baiji”.
2015 - The Volkswagen Group accused of “violations”; “The scandal raised awareness
over the higher levels of pollution emitted by all diesel-powered vehicles from a wide range of car makers.”
2016 - The documentary film Company Town released; “the film alleges that improper waste disposal...caused a cluster of cancer
incidents in the area around the Georgia-Pacific Paper mill” (owned by Koch Industries)
“Georgia‐Pacific...has acquired more than a million acres of prime timberland”.
2017 - US State Department...releases revised historical account of the CIA’s involvement in the 1953 Iranian coup d’etat;
“Iran's oil was the central focus of the coup, for both the British and the Americans.”
2018 - Crash of Lion Air Flight 610; “corporate greed...corrupted the process from...when the 737-MAX program was launched. [Boeing] engineers...complained of unrealistic deadline pressures
while top managers...,more alert to Wall Street than airline safety, gave priority to stock buybacks and shareholder returns.”
2018 - Murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi;
members of the Saudi hit team were closely connected to Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince…
Khashoggi had wanted "to talk about...the political prisoners, freedom of speech, human rights" in the oil-rich Kingdom.
2019 - Alfred Brownell awarded the Goldman prize; “because of his protecting more than 500,000 acres of tropical forests from palm oil production. After receiving death threats as a result of his work, he and his family fled Liberia.”
2020 -12 Rangers and 5 other people killed in...the Democratic Republic of Congo;
“connected to hunting for bushmeat, illegal fishing & logging [timber], and poaching”.
2021 - [pollution] Plans passed by the US House of Representatives to coerce utilities to use renewable energy,
(the Clean Electricity Payment Program) are scuttled by Republicans and Joe Manchin (D), West Virginia, in the US Senate.
2022 - The US Supreme Court rules that the Environmental Protection Agency will be restricted (from now on) in using its "authority to adopt broad regulations to combat" green-house-gas pollutants.
respice finem