EARTH DAY
Earth Day has successful past
It's been 25 years since She first
Earth Day. which was on April
22. 1970. looking back, many
accomplishments have been
made for the good of the environ
meet, most notab y with th.* sue
cesses of the first Earth Day and
its 20-year anniversary
Former U S Senator Gaylord
Nelson is the Wisconsin Democ
rat who established the first Earth
Day In an interview with E may
azme. Nelson points out that he
was at one time the only senator
with an environmental staff per
son Twenty five years later, all
535 members of Congress have
a person working on envtronmen
tal issues
Nelson is still involved with
Earth Day events, including Earth
Day 1995
"My basic message is that we
should try to build a sustainable
country and achieve population
control," Nelson said
Nelson recruited Denis Hayes,
then a 25-year old law student at
Harvard University, to help orga
nize the first Earlh Day Events
included a large number of edu
cational gatherings, such as
teach-ins, at universities and
schools across the country.
Other events on that day
included citizens cutting up their
oil company credit cards for tele
vision cameras and a student
gathering at Boston's Logan Air
port protesting the SST, Ameri
ca's super-sonic transport The
SST was never built.
About 20 million Americans par
ticipated m events lor Earth Day
1970. and even Congress
recessed early to allow members
to take pad in activities
John Baldwin, associate pro
lessor m the Planning. Public Pol
icy and Management Department
and director ol the University's
Institute lor a Sustainable £nv>
ronment said he was greatly
attected by the first Earth Day
"With attempts to roll backwards
what progress has been made on
Some environmental (fonts and
with the deterioration ol resources."
he said, “it’s time to redouble our
resolve to tackle these problems
efficiently, and appreciate the
beauty ar>d bounty ol our environ
ment."
Baldwin was attending
Jamestown Community College in
Jamestown. New York at the time
About 200 students were involved
m a march celebrating Earth Day
A teach-m was also sponsored, at
whch science students discussed
environmental problems and solu
tions
Baldwin remembers these
events as catalysts lor him to pur
sue a career m environmental biol
ogy A year later, he did some ol
the original water pollution work on
Lake Erie In 19/2, he canoed the
Cuyahoga River in Cleveland after
it caught on fire, taking water sam
ples.
Important victones for the envt
ronment resulted from the first
Earth Day in 1970. The Environ
mental Protection Agency was ere
ated, and the ground-breaking
Clean A<» Act ot 1970 was passed
by Congress That act phased out
lead m gasokne and reduced auto
emissions.
Environmental activists also
caused the miiitary to stop spray
mg Agent Orange and other tone
chemicals m Vietnam
Between the first Earth Day and
the 20-year anniversary, interest
in the event dwindled
In 191* a worktws.V'. »>lebration
was planned to relive the success
ot the original Earth Day
Denis Hayrss, who helped orga
nise the first Earth Day. also led
the planning ot the 20-year
anniversary This time, the goal
was to involve societies worldwide
and help Earth Day become a
global event
Earth Day 1990 may have berm
the largest global event ever in
which the greatest numbue of peo
ple united lor a common cause
The Nr'w York Timrs reported on
April 23, 1993 that "t>y day's end
organt/ers ot the sequel to Earth
Day 1970 said 200 million people
in 140 nations had taken part in the
largest grassroots demonstration
in history "
Hayes described the state ot the
environment on Earth Day 1990,
m Aorlubon magazine
"The greenhouse effect is now
beyond dispute," he said
"Species are disappearing faster
t urn to HISTORY , f’gc SB
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HONE SWEET HONE.
LET’S KEEP IT THAT WAY.
Join in the festivities today
in the EMU Courtyard
and on Earth Day, <
Saturday, April 22
at the Saturday Market
Jointly sponsored by the
Environmental Issues
Committee, OSPIRG,
the Survival Center and
Campus Recycling