There are two types of people in this world…those who realize it is Earth Day when the local news station features a story about a local organization planting trees or your Instagram stories are loaded with trash pick up montages, and those that circle April 22 with a fat Sharpie on their calendar each year. In either case, Earth Day greets us planet-dwellers for 24 short hours every single trip around the sun. But whether you plan your Earth Day itinerary a month in advance or swear to yourself you will honor this holiday next year, do you know history behind this important date? Many of even the most dedicated, self-proclaimed outdoor lovers and eco-conscious actors may not.
When we think about the meaning of Earth Day in current times, it evokes images of beautifying and protecting our natural spaces. It inspires many to take a more active role in preserving our natural landscape and local ecosystems and to consider their role in combating larger issues like global warming, pollution and the loss of precious water sources in places like California and Arizona. Earth Day feels more like a celebratory honoring of the natural world at this point in time but at its inception, the creation of Earth Day was a rebellious battle cry of Americans who aimed to force concerns for the destruction of this planet into the national agenda.
Prior to the year 1970 environmental regulations and resource conservation practices were non-existent. No legal recourse existed to stop factories from polluting the air with poisonous smoke stacks or companies from dumping hazardous waste into local water sources. Senator Gaylord Nelson, however, wasn’t one to turn a blind eye and organized the first Earth Day in April of 1970 as a way to leverage the opinion of the masses. It wasn’t just the concerns of Senator Nelson that spurred on massive changes to the political agenda, it was the support of millions of Americans that took to the streets on the morning of April 22, 1970 to demonstrate peacefully and voice their concerns for their threatened planet.
Gaylord Nelson was quoted in the EPA Journal (1980), describing that day: “It forcibly thrust the issue of environmental quality and resources conservation into the political dialogue of the Nation. That was the important objective and achievement of Earth Day. It showed the political and opinion leadership of the country that the people cared, that they were ready for political action, that the politicians had better get ready, too. In short, Earth Day launched the Environmental decade with a bang…
In the ten years since 1970 much of the basic legislation needed to protect the environment has been enacted into law:
- the Clean Air Act,
- the Water Quality Improvement Act,
- the Water Pollution and Control Act Amendments,
- the Resource Recovery Act,
- the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act,
- the Toxic Substances Control Act,
- the Occupational Safety and Health Act,
- the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act,
- the Endangered Species Act,
- the Safe Drinking Water Act,
- the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and
- the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.
And, the most important piece of environmental legislation in our history, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was signed into law on January 1, 1970.”
That same year President Richard Nixon sent to Congress a plan to consolidate many environmental responsibilities of the federal government under one agency, a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA remains in place today and its overarching mission of protecting human health and the environment is accomplished through developing and enforcing regulations, providing grants to state environmental programs, non-profits, educational institutions, and others, studying environmental issues, publishing important data, sponsoring partnerships with other organizations and teaching people about the environment.
The successes of Earth Day did not end in 1970 or 1980, for that matter, and one might argue the political importance of this day remains more dire than ever. The impact of Earth Day, the EPA and the countless persons and organizations that have worked tirelessly to protect our beautiful planet have continued to effect positive change. To learn more about many of these successes, check out the Earth Day website.
April 22 is less than a week away from the date this blog was written which means there is plenty of time to get involved. Getting outside and picking up trash, doing trail maintenance and planting trees are not the only ways you can support the environment on this upcoming Earth Day and every day thereafter. Learn more about the many ways you can have an impact here! Now that you know what you are celebrating, are you ready?
Evolving Adventurer 