The Day Our World View Changed
Andrew Tasker
Green Entrepreneur with a track record of successful strategic and tactical leadership driving sustainable growth
Today is Earth Day. A global social awareness raising event observed every year on April 22, signifying the advent of the contemporary environmental movement that began in 1970 (1). A day when we collectively take stock. To understand our problems and determine the root causes. A day when we recommit ourselves to ensuring that the quality of life experienced by future generations will be better than what we know today.
The Origins of Earth Day
Prior to the first Earth Day, the United States was in an era of rampant consumption of leaded gas via large, inefficient vehicles. Industrial pollution was rampant, with factories emitting smoke and sludge with little fear of legal repercussions. Air pollution was often seen as a sign of prosperity (1).
The publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962, a New York Times bestseller, was a turning point. It brought to light the impact of pollution on the environment and public health, raising public awareness and concern (1).
The Idea for the First Earth Day
Senator Gaylord Nelson, a junior senator from Wisconsin, was deeply concerned about the deteriorating environment in the United States. He, along with many others, witnessed the devastating effects of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, in January 1969 (1).
Inspired by the student anti-war movement, Senator Nelson aimed to combine the energy of student anti-war protests with the emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution. He proposed a teach-in on college campuses and announced the idea to the national media. He also persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair (1).
Senator Nelson recruited Denis Hayes, a young activist, to organize the campus teach-ins and to expand the idea to the general public. They chose April 22, a weekday between Spring Break and Final Exams, to ensure maximum student participation (1).
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The Impact of Earth Day
The first Earth Day inspired 20 million Americans, which was 10% of the total population of the United States at the time, to demonstrate against the impacts of 150 years of industrial development (1).
Various groups that had been fighting individually against environmental issues such as oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, loss of wilderness, and wildlife extinction united on Earth Day around these shared common values (1).
Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, garnering support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, urban dwellers and farmers, business and labor leaders (1).
Today, Earth Day has evolved into a global celebration that sometimes extends into Earth Week, a full seven days of events focused on green living and addressing the climate crisis (2). The official theme for Earth Day 2024 is “Planet vs. Plastics” (4).
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