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The U.N. celebrates an Earth Day on the March equinox, as founded by peace activist John McConnell in 1969. A second Earth Day, founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson, is celebrated on April 22.In September 1969, at a conference in Seattle, Washington, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment. Senator Nelson first proposed the nationwide environmental protest to thrust the environment onto the national agenda.” "It was a gamble," he recalls, "but it worked."The U.S. State Department's America.Gov site ("telling America's story") has an article entitled: "What is Earth Day?"
Washington -- Earth Day, April 22, is the annual U.S. celebration of the environment and a time for Americans to assess the work still needed to protect the natural gifts of our planet. Earth Day has no central organizing force behind it, though several nongovernmental organizations work to keep track of the thousands of local events in schools and parks that mark the day. It affirms that environmental awareness is part of the country's consciousness and that the idea of protecting the environment -- once the province of a few conservationists -- has moved from the extreme to the mainstream of American thought.There are Earth Day activities world wide, including observances by:
The World Wildlife Fund
NASA TV
The Wilderness Society
The Nature Conservancy
The EnviroLink Resources Guide (a list of events)...
The U.S. Government has also established:
Earth Day Portal
EPA Earth Day page
NOAA Environment Page
The State Department Earth Day page...
There has been controversy over the years ranging from environmentalists who say having only one day for the earth minimizes the effort of people year round to those who deny the problem of climate change and pollutions altogether and insist the day is irrelevant.
Despite that, the Earth Day observations have been growing world wide and now include media outlets, such NBC's Earth Week programming. With the continued and accelerating degradation of the environment, it is likely that such observances will grow.
LABELS: CLIMATE CHANGE, EARTH DAY, ENVIRONMENT, GLOBAL WARMING, HISTORY, UNITED NATIONS
