Celebrate Earth Day: April 22

Annual events on Wednesday, April 22, will comemmorate the anniversary of the first Earth Day, celebrated in 1970 when an environmental movement brought about change to the way the country views its natural resources and their sustainability.

Though there hasn’t always been a connection, it was politics that played a key role in the environmental movement that led to the first Earth Day.

In the early 1960’s, President of the U.S. Senate Gaylord Nelson, is credited with having the first thoughts of setting aside a special day to celebrate and protect the earth’s riches. Troubled by the state of the environment, Nelson reasoned that without somehow forcing the issue into the political arena, environmental degradation would only worsen. He persuaded President John F. Kennedy in 1962 to go on a nationwide conservation tour, to speak about issues relating to the environment.

Though others deemed the tour a success, Nelson did not achieve the results he was looking for. His idea lay dormant for several more years, until he embarked on a speaking tour in 1969. While in Seattle, Nelson announced a national environmental teach-in the following spring.

Wire services responded positively, with newspapers picking up the issue. The environmental movement took off, shining a light on environmental issues on a national scale. Nelson sparked an interest in his audience when he asked, “Are we prepared to say to manufacturers, ‘You must take that thing off the market or prove that the waste it generates doesn’t pollute the atmosphere?’

“Are we prepared to say no to oil companies, that they must not drill offshore? Are we prepared to develop a land use policy to say, ‘You must not destroy any more?’”

His attitude echoed in the heads and hearts of young college students, who began Environmental Action, Inc. The grassroots movement exploded with an estimated twenty million people all across the county who held demonstrations, proclaiming that it was high time the politicians woke up and did something about the destruction of the environment.

Look how far we have come. Since that 1970’s consciousness began, laws have been enacted to protect endangered species of plants and animals, as well as new safeguards aimed at preventing air and water pollution. Regulations were enacted to make it more difficult for industry to ignore the long-term harmful implications of their actions. Heros for the environment have been immortalized in television and movies.

The changes inspired by the first Earth Day have come about with no guarantees. But without the backing of the American people, none of the protections implemented in those first days are safe. They all remain as tenuous as the next election. We have seen how one swipe of a presidential pen can change everything, reversing decades of work.

Environmental issues remain a political football. So many of the protections envisioned by battle-weary environmental activists and regular earth-friendly folks decades ago continue to face assaults by big industry, pharmaceutical companies, and other giants of commerce.  Fighting for the protection of the environment is an ongoing battle, with the most important aspect being education. We must learn ourselves and teach others, always conscious of the long term affect of our behavior. We must remain diligent and never become too complacent. We must strive for sustainability. Only then will our lives have been meaningful.