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."
I hope that you take this day not only as a reflection of where we came from 42 years ago but as a call to move forward to continually make our world a better place to live and work in.
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