![]() “The idea was out there and everybody grabbed it. “The reason Earth Day worked is that it organized itself,” Nelson told the New York Times. In a 1971 poll, 78 percent of Americans indicated they would be willing to pay to clean up their air and water. Polls from the time showed that concern for the environment had leapt to the forefront of public opinion-with air and water pollution even perceived as more important than issues of race and crime. By April 22, interest had grown so much that 20 million Americans at 2,000 colleges and universities and 10,000 grade schools participated in the first Earth Day through demonstrations, decluttering rivers, and more. ![]() Soon, the effort ballooned into what is now dubbed the Earth Day protest. Nelson recruited Pete McCloskey, a California Republican representative, and Denis Hayes, a young activist, to help organize the sit-in. He selected April 22, 1970, a date between Spring Break and final exams, to allow for maximum student participation. He pitched an idea for a teach-in-dedicated discussions between faculty and students about the environment. ![]() Stirred by the energy of students participating in anti-war protests, Nelson set out to galvanize the same kind of action on behalf of the environment. had seen at the time and remains the worst in California’s history. The oil spill, which killed thousands of birds and stained beaches along the California coast, was the largest the U.S. Then, in January 1969, a devastating oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, inspired Nelson to spearhead a new grassroots approach to the environmental movement. A staunch progressive and wilderness lover, Nelson made it his priority to pass environmental legislation like the 1964 Wilderness Act, which safeguarded federal land, and the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, which established a process for protecting free-flowing rivers. One of the original titans of the environmental movement was the father of Earth Day, former Democratic Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin. ( What you need to know about pesticides and other toxic waste.) But it would take another eight years before tangible environmental regulation passed into law. Silent Spring was an instant bestseller, causing people to question modern technology’s impact on the environment, while setting the stage for the environmental movement to accelerate. In the influential book, Carson meticulously chronicled how DDT, a then-widespread pesticide, entered the food chain and caused cancer and genetic damage in humans and animals. Most Americans were introduced to the effects of air pollution in 1962 when naturalist and former marine biologist Rachel Carson published Silent Spring. The 1960s was a decade of environmental awakening for much of the United States. Here’s how Earth Day came to be a holiday-and why activists hope it will continue to shape a more sustainable future. Between the 14th and 16th centuries, people worried that pollution and general filth contributed to plague epidemics, while soil conservation methods can also be traced to China, India, and Peru as far back as 2,000 years ago.īut the same wave of activism that led to the creation of Earth Day also ushered in a new age of environmental legislation-one that saw the passage of the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act as well as the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. It has since evolved into a global celebration of the environmental movement’s achievements-and a reminder of the work yet to be done.Ĭoncern for the environment long pre-existed Earth Day’s founding. Known as Earth Day, the holiday got its start in the United States in 1970 with what was originally billed as a teach-in on college campuses. Each year on April 22, people around the globe come together to honor and conserve their shared home: Earth.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |