Each year, Earth Day -- April 22 -- marks the anniversary of what
many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.
The height of hippie and flower-child culture in the United States,
1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and
Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. Protest was the
order of the day, but saving the planet was not the cause. War raged in
Vietnam, and students nationwide increasingly opposed it.
At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8
sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal
consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the
smell of prosperity. “Environment” was a word that appeared more often
in spelling bees than on the evening news. Although mainstream America
remained oblivious to environmental concerns, the stage had been set for
change by the publication of Rachel Carson's New York Times bestseller
Silent Spring in 1962. The book represented a watershed moment for the
modern environmental movement, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24
countries and, up until that moment, more than any other person, Ms.
Carson raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the
environment and public health.
Earth Day 1970 capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling
the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental
concerns front and center.
The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S.
Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive
oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student
anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with
an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would
force environmental protection onto the national political agenda.
Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the
environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a
conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair;
and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a
national staff of 85 to promote events across the land.
As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the
streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy,
sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of
colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration
of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills,
polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps,
pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of
wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.
Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support
from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and
farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the
creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the
passage of the
Clean Air,
Clean Water, and
Endangered Species Acts. "It was a gamble," Gaylord recalled, "but it worked."
As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis
Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went
global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting
environmental issues onto the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge
boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the
1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It also prompted
President Bill Clinton to award Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of
Freedom (1995) -- the highest honor given to civilians in the United
States -- for his role as Earth Day founder.
As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another
campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean
energy. With 5,000 environmental groups in a record 184 countries
reaching out to hundreds of millions of people, Earth Day 2000 combined
the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international
grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. It used the Internet to organize
activists, but also featured a talking drum chain that traveled from
village to village in Gabon, Africa, and hundreds of thousands of people
gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Earth Day 2000 sent
world leaders the loud and clear message that citizens around the world
wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy.
Much like 1970, Earth Day 2010 came at a time of great challenge for
the environmental community. Climate change deniers, well-funded oil
lobbyists, reticent politicians, a disinterested public, and a divided
environmental community all contributed to a strong narrative that
overshadowed the cause of progress and change. In spite of the
challenge, for its 40th anniversary, Earth Day Network reestablished
Earth Day as a powerful focal point around which people could
demonstrate their commitment. Earth Day Network brought 225,000 people
to the National Mall for a Climate Rally, amassed 40 million
environmental service actions toward its 2012 goal of A Billion Acts of
Green®, launched an international, 1-million tree planting initiative
with Avatar director James Cameron and tripled its online base to over
900,000 community members.
The fight for a clean environment continues in a climate of
increasing urgency, as the ravages of climate change become more
manifest every day. We invite you to be a part of Earth Day and help
write many more victories and successes into our history. Discover
energy you didn't even know you had. Feel it rumble through the
grassroots under your feet and the technology at your fingertips.
Channel it into building a clean, healthy, diverse world for generations
to come.
Discover more at
Earth Day Network
SERVPRO of Greater Northern Charleston
FASTER TO ANY DISASTER.
843-747-8750
