During photosynthesis, a chemical called chlorophyll absorbs the light energy and encourages a reaction between carbon dioxide and water that results in glucose and oxygen. Oxygen is expelled as a waste product from the plant, and it enters the atmosphere.
The EPA was proposed by President Richard Nixon and began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate. The agency is led by its Administrator, who is appointed by the president and approved by Congress.
Since 1970 the EPA has worked closely with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), a relatively small executive agency that was created pursuant to the NEPA. Its mission is to advise the president on federal policy and action in the environmental area and to ensure that other federal agencies comply with NEPA.hen the EPA was created in 1970, it was headed by William Ruckelshaus (1932-), a loyal member of the Republican party who earned a reputation as a skilled administrator, who was able to work effectively with environmentalists as well as businesspeople.