Facts about Earth Day!

in 1962 Rachel Carson’s new York times best-selling book Silent Spring opened many people’s eyes to the negative consequences of industrialization and showed a direct link between pollution and public health. As the modern environmental movement gained steam in the mid-1960s an activist out of San Francisco wanted to celebrate something like earth day on march 21^st to symbolize the harmony and balance of nature. In 1969 environmental issues rocked the headlines when a river full of industrial wastes in the Midwest actually caught on fire and there was a huge oil spill in Santa Barbara California.

Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson conceived earth day in the early 1960s. Senator nelson worried that environmental issues were not being addressed in the political arena especially after he witnessed the aftermath of a California oil spill in 1969. He was inspired by Vietnam protests to organize a nationwide grassroots demonstration to promote conservation involvement and awareness. The first earth day was in 1970 and nelson’s demonstration was set for April 22nd 1970. It purposefully fell between spring break and final exams in the hope that college students would participate. About 20 million Americans showed their support according to environmental advocacy group earth day network and it soon became the first official Earth Day. Based on these numbers you could argue it was the largest protests in American history. So what did people do…most people went to large rallies, cleaned up local parks or listened to speakers at school. Some of the more notable headlines from the day include when university of Michigan students had a full-on funeral for a combustible engine. 13 to 15 people were actually arrested for blocking Boston’s logan airport.  Indiana university protesters poured concrete into sewage pipes and a guy in Florida presented a local utility company with decaying fish.

The government responded to Earth Day with environmental legislation. Both republicans and democrats responded to the environmental conservation messages of earth day. This was a rare case of conservatives and liberals working together for the common good. President Nixon was on the fence about earth day but he saw it as a way to get young people to vote for him and deflect concerns about the Vietnam war bu. He kept his distance from the festivities due to possible political ramifications but having said that Nixon signed more environmental legislation than potentially any other president. It helped inspire the United States environmental protection agency EPA  as well as the clean air clean water and endangered species acts. Earth day went global in 1990 20 years after the first earth day. The campaign spread internationally. The 1990 demonstration mobilized 200 million people in 141 countries according to the earth day network and it gave major attention to environmental issues like recycling. About 1 billion people recognize earth day each year and the earth day network says it’s the largest secular observance in the world and it currently reaches people in more than 190 countries.

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