The oil crisis of the 1970s had many consequences.
On the positive side, new regulations forced the car makers
to produce milage-efficient and cleaner engines. Tighter
requirements took place in 1984. But since then, milage and
environmental performances of cars haven't improved
significantly yet the number of cars and milage traveled
have continually increased.
1970: Environmental Protection Agency is established. It took over the responsibility of environmental impact assessment processes.
Congress also passed the Clean Air Act.
1972: The Clean Water Act passed.
The Interstate Highway System, which started in 1956, was still only 70 percent complete. It was originally estimated to be done by 1970s with a cost of $27 billion. The current estimate for the cost upon completion was $76.3 billion.
1973: Congress passed the Endangered Species Act. This act “helped stop a number of large public works projects, including a major waterfront highway project in New York City known as Westway” (Gillham 53). This act was a reflection of elevated awareness among the Americans regarding the sensitivity of ecosystem and the direct impacts that human beings have on it, with choices such as creating and living in suburbs.
Including the U.S., the Western world experienced the sting of oil shock. There was a shortage of oil and the gasoline prices skyrocketed. One of the reasons for this was the complaint by OPEC (Oil Producing Countries) that the West buys the oil from them at cheap prices yet every good they receive in return, including the refined oil, is sold many times more expensive. They thought it would be fair to raise the price of crude oil accordingly. The other reason had to do with the Yom Kippur War, fought between Israel and the Arab coalition between Syria and Egypt. Six Persian Gulf oil-producing countries had significant percentage cuts in their oil out-puts.
Although by the end of the 1970s funding for mass transit projects and operations had reached more than $2 billion, two third of the population was living in the suburbs and there were about 20,000 strip mall shopping centers. Automobile still was the number one transportation mean for the Americans.