What is the legacy of Exxon Valdez. What can the youth learn from it?
The legacy of the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) is that oil is more toxic than previously thought to people and wildlife. Wildlife biologists and medical researchers now understand that a particular fraction of oil, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs, is the deadly fraction of oil. This was NOT understood 30 years ago in the 1970s when the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act imposed regulations on oil pollution. The old laws are based on the toxicity of a completely different fraction of oil — and largely ignore PAHs. Laws to protect public health and the environment need to be updated to take into account the new scientific understanding. Since over 90 percent of the PAHs in North America’s air and water (according to the National Research Council, 2003) comes from burning fossil fuels in vehicles and power plants, changing the old laws entangles science with politics — similar to the global climate change science. Youth will learn: 1) Some oil effects on people (in s
