This Sunday, April 22, will mark the 42nd anniversary of Earth Day. Earth Day was first established in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin. He had been troubled by the devastating oil spills in Santa Barbara the year before. With public awareness about air and water pollution rising, and the student anti-war movement going strong, he realized that a similar energy could be used bring environmental protection onto the national policy agenda. He worked with the media and across party-lines to successfully bring out 20 million people across the nation on April 22, 1970 to rally for environmental protection. It was the first Earth Day that brought the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, the Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. Since then, with the growth of technology and greater awareness about the environment, Earth Day has spread to become an international day of solidarity where people campaign to raise awareness about pressing environmental issues.
So what can you do for Earth Day? The most important thing to do is to just take a little bit of time to think about the environment and why it is so important to us. And if you are not aware of current environmental issues, take a few minutes to read up on what is happening right now. There is also an Earth Day celebration today on the Mini Bald Spot and there will be a Northfield Earth Day celebration with workshops on April 28.
Amber Kim ‘14