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.
Ronald Reagan on Environment. When President Reagan took office in 1981, his first initiatives were to override much of the Carter environmental agenda. Reagan, much like Ford before him, appeared to be obsessed with eliminating regulation in government altogether. He was equally as obsessed with deregulating the EPA.