Earth Day History

It is no surprise that Earth Day has a long standing history within our country. It's literally the thing we live on day to day. Many don't know though that the first Earth Day did not happen until 1970 which is just shy over 50 years to modern day. You wouldn't think we had been environmentally conscious if you look at the Climate Clock in NYC.... so what happened?

We have to look back at where it’s beginning. As very few of you may know, protesting inspired Earth Day celebrations! It was the anti-war movement that inspired Senator Gaylord Nelson to take action against the oil spill he witnessed in Santa Barbra. Protesters today should rally around the hope they could do the same thing today! Senator Nelson intended to "infuse the energy of student anti-war protests with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution" (Earth Day Org). He had this idea now he just needed an activist to get the job done. Dennis Hayes was the best activist for the job, as he could see the potential for a worldwide movement. He not only picked the date strategically but also recruited a team of 85 people for a nationwide protest! They picked the date April 22nd as it fell between exams and finals week, to allow the most students to attend. We see protesters today taking from the same playbook as we continue to plan protest on weekends.

The courage these two showed one time ripple affected for decades to come. At just the 10 year anniversary of this holiday, it had its principal event held in Washington to mark the 10 years of Earth conscious legislation. We saw the creation of the EPA this year along with environmental laws; like The Clean Water Act and Toxics Substance Control. Through the 1980s Earth Day became an international event, as well as international policy initiatives. The movement was booming so by 1990 they went back to the activist who started it all, to keep it booming. Dennis Hayes made a comeback in Earth Day 1990 to help with global mobilization. This globalization meant 200 million people in 141 countries, all celebrating Earth Day.

From this globalization we saw the normalization of the holiday. People weren’t as concerned with just one day because efforts became habits. For those of us who are mindful, we try to be all year round.

Today we see Earth Day as more vital than ever, for the means of awareness. We currently have an administration that is overreaching to try and run our resources dry. We need to be mindful now, more than ever about each and every State Park or random patch of trees. In Memphis there have been many people concerned about the AI housing that is sucking up energy and damaging resources. The Southern Environmental Law Center has gone into more depth than I could on their effects. Please check out their research while using Ecosia to plant trees while you're search: https://www.selc.org/news/elon-musks-xai-facility-is-polluting-south-memphis/