6 America in the Young 21st Century 4 America in the Young 21st Century There was 31 million tons of plastic waste in 2010 alone Americans recycled just 8 percent or 2 4 million tons By recycling products Americans helped the environment by keeping millions of tons of waste out of landfills With the world’s population reaching an estimated 7 billion people by 2012 Americans became increasingly concerned with environmental issues health care issues and adequate food and fossil Words to Know fossil fuels FOSS-uhl FYOO-uhls Energy sources such as coal oil and natural gas that develop from the decay of living things in the earth over time go green goh green This refers to the level of environmental awareness of people and the changes that they put into place in order to improve or cleanse the environment green technology green tek-NOL-uh-jee Green technology is also known as clean technology It refers to energy production or technological processes that are less harmful to the environment than processes from the past recycling ree-SYE-kuhl-ing To process old items such as plastics newspapers metals and glass so they can be used to make new items fuel supplies For the past forty years environmentalists and scientists warned Americans that the world’s climate and the availability of resources was changing and not for the better With gas prices across the nation rising to 4 per gallon Americans were finally listening Ordinary citizens as well as governments and corporations began to go green They invested in green technologies They sought alternatives to fossil fuels such as coal and gas Wind power and solar power started to make sense for a lot of Americans as a clean renewable alternative to fossil fuels Now many people recycle and reuse as much as possible Plastics glasses metals batteries and paper products are just a few of the materials citizens and businesses recycle Schools too jumped aboard the green bandwagon placing recycle receptacles in classrooms and cafeterias
America in the Young 21st Century 7 America in the Young 21st Century 5 Pollution and e-waste the waste coming from old electronics and computers is a large concern for environmentalists Clean air soil and water are critical for healthy life on planet Earth People are volunteering their time in clean up efforts They are also asking businesses and governments to take responsibility for their messes One large scale environmental disaster the Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened in April of 2010 The spill started when an offshore oil drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico Eleven people were killed during the accident Gushing oil quickly spread throughout the Gulf of Mexico polluting the water and killing wildlife The company who owned the drilling rig BP admitted its mistakes Since then BP has given an estimated 20 billion to Asia Approximate Location of Great Pacific Garbage Dump North America North Pacific Gyre Equatorial Counter Current The Pacific Trash Vortex is a large rotating mass of garbage This is evidence that many people around the world still need to go green help the victims of the oil spill Scientists continue to monitor and study the wetlands surrounding the spill site Oil covered more than 4,000 miles 6437 km of water after the Deepwater Horizon disaster
8 Barack Obama 2009 2016 Barack Obama 2009 2016 Barack Obama Born August 4 1961 Honolulu Hawaii Honolulu Imagine you traveled back in time to America in 1850 Slavery was legal African American men women and children were bought and sold at auctions They were forced to work as slaves with no pay no legal rights no access to education or healthcare and no status as human beings Families were separated and never saw one another again Being an African American slave in pre Civil War America was like being someone's livestock Slaves had no freedom or opportunity Even well into the 1960s African Americans faced racial discrimination and segregation in the United States Now fast forward to America on November 4 2008 Americans elected Barack Obama president He was the first African American elected to the highest office in the land It was a historic time of change in America a time many African Americans thought would never happen This was a triumphant moment in American history Hawaii Term January 20 2009 January 20 2016 Partu Democratic First Lado Michelle LaVaughn Obama Vice President Joseph R Biden Vice President Joseph R Biden
