Editing Industrial Revolution (section)

===Effect on environment===
[[File:StRolloxChemical 1831.jpg|thumb|Levels of air pollution rose during the Industrial Revolution, sparking the first modern environmental laws to be passed in the mid-19th century.]]
The origins of the [[environmental movement]] lay in the response to increasing levels of smoke pollution during the Industrial Revolution. The emergence of great factories and the linked immense growth in [[history of coal mining|coal consumption]] gave rise to an unprecedented level of [[air pollution]] in industrial centres; after 1900 the large volume of industrial chemical discharges added to the growing load of [[Industrial waste|untreated human waste]].<ref name="Donora">{{cite web |url=http://www.ametsoc.org/sloan/cleanair/ |title=History of the Clean Air Act |access-date=14 February 2006 |first1=James R. |last1=Fleming |first2=Bethany R. |last2=Knorr |publisher=American Meteorological Society |archive-date=10 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610133251/http://www.ametsoc.org/sloan/cleanair/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The first large-scale, modern environmental laws came in the form of Britain's [[Alkali Act 1863]], to regulate the air pollution given off by the Leblanc process used to produce soda ash. Alkali inspectors were appointed to curb this pollution.

The manufactured gas industry began in British cities in 1812–20. This produced highly toxic effluent dumped into sewers and rivers. The gas companies were repeatedly sued in nuisance lawsuits. They usually lost and modified the worst practices. The City of London indicted gas companies in the 1820s for polluting the Thames, poisoning its fish. Parliament wrote company charters to regulate toxicity.<ref>Leslie Tomory, "The Environmental History of the Early British Gas Industry, 1812–1830." ''Environmental history'' 17#1 (2012): 29–54.</ref> The industry reached the U.S. around 1850 causing pollution and lawsuits.<ref>Joel A. Tarr, "Toxic Legacy: The Environmental Impact of the Manufactured Gas Industry in the United States." ''Technology and culture'' 55#1 (2014): 107–147. [http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=history online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019143436/http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=history |date=19 October 2017 }}</ref>

In industrial cities local experts and reformers, especially after 1890, took the lead in identifying environmental degradation and pollution, and initiating grass-roots movements to achieve reforms.<ref>Harold L. Platt, ''Shock cities: the environmental transformation and reform of Manchester and Chicago'' (2005) [https://www.amazon.com/Shock-Cities-Environmental-Transformation-Manchester/dp/0226670767/  excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210315054853/https://www.amazon.com/Shock-Cities-Environmental-Transformation-Manchester/dp/0226670767/ |date=15 March 2021 }}.</ref> Typically the highest priority went to water and air pollution. The [[Environmental Protection UK|Coal Smoke Abatement Society]] was formed in Britain in 1898. It was founded by artist [[William Blake Richmond]], frustrated with the pall cast by coal smoke. Although there were earlier pieces of legislation, the [[Public Health Act 1875]] required all furnaces and fireplaces to consume their smoke. It provided for sanctions against factories that emitted large amounts of black smoke.<ref>Brian William Clapp, ''An environmental history of Britain since the industrial revolution'' (Routledge, 2014).</ref>