On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets for the future
of our planet. In hundreds of cities, they protested environmental
ignorance and demanded a new way forward for our planet. This is what
happened at the inaugural Earth Day 50 years ago, as written on the Earth
Day Network website.
History
From the late 1940s through the early 1960s, Gaylord Nelson held multiple
political offices in Wisconsin, successfully implementing innovative
environmental and land preservation programs never before seen in the
United States. In 1962, Nelson became a U.S. Senator, working hard to bring
his environmental ideologies to Senate discussions. Change was slow, but
his efforts eventually resulted in the passage of fundamental laws,
including the Environmental Protection Act, the Clean Air Act and the Clean
Water Act.
Despite the creation of important laws, however, Nelson’s fellow senators
were initially skeptical of the need to discuss environmental concerns,
which were considered unpopular opinions at the time. Inspired by a story
he read about students protesting the Vietnam War through a series of
teach-ins, Nelson decided he wanted to have a massive teach-in on the
environment, and on September 20, 1969, proposed the idea of a national
Earth Day on the Senate floor. The idea was to encourage citizens
nationwide to host their own teach-ins to make people aware of local
environmental problems and to promote their events to elicit maximum
participation.
Interestingly, Nelson rejected the creation of a centralized organization
to handle Earth Day operations and refused to be its leader, insisting that
a one-size approach would not be useful and that individual communities
needed to spearhead their own visions for ways to help the environment at
local levels. Nelson’s progressive plan caught the attention of 20 million
people who, on April 22, 1970, formed the largest demonstration of civic
action ever witnessed in United States history.
For 20 years, 1970-1990, impassioned speakers of environmental issues
concentrated their efforts on Earth Day events within the United States; in
1990, Earth Day reached global heights while introducing worldwide
recycling efforts to the public.
Since 1990, several large groups have worked on activities for Earth Day,
held each year on April 22. Starting in 1995, the Earth Day Network (EDN)
emerged as the nonprofit group in charge of coordinating Earth Day
activities. Environmental attorney and advocate Kathleen Rogers, president
of EDN, works year-round to educate people on how best to work in harmony
on environmental goals on a global scale.
Civic Engagement
When asked about the single-most important task for the EDN, Rogers
repeatedly mentions civic engagement. “Our goal is to teach our people
civics skills [especially because] there are no active civic engagement
programs in the states,” she explains. Rogers further distinguishes civics
from volunteer efforts, which are typically marked by separate, individual
acts that are nonpolitical in nature. Civic action, notes Rogers, expands
traditional volunteerism with communications and participation that engages
the political world in some way, such as meeting with members of Congress,
attending city hall meetings or voting. Rogers stresses that even young
children have the ability to participate in civic acts by identifying
important issues and writing letters to political leaders.
A well-traveled busy executive, Rogers has spent a fair amount of time
abroad to advance environmental efforts. She has seen disappointing
environmental situations and hazards in many places. A visit to India, for
example, left an indelible mark on Rogers’s psyche after she saw a
startling vision – the sight of “children in India playing in hundreds of
pieces of plastic in waves,” she states. In addition, Rogers visited the
outskirts of Paris and was unpleasantly shocked to see litter everywhere.
Those observations have helped her appreciate U.S. laws in place for
managing recyclables and garbage.
Though the United States has an imperfect system for recycling its many
materials and disposing trash, not everything is doom and gloom. Rogers
states: “I’m proud of our successes [in the U.S.]. Over time, people will
recognize the laws of the country. [Earth Day is] 50 years of making
progress!”, notes Rogers enthusiastically.
Rogers declared climate change as the top environmental concern in 2020.
Climate change reached unprecedented global importance in mid-2018 after
Swedish youth activist Greta Thunberg addressed the United Nations Climate
Change Conference. Since then, her youthful innocence, juxtaposed with
undeniable adult fervor in urging political leaders to address the global
climate crisis caused by global warming, has turned Thunberg into a
household name.
Despite constant headlines with scientific proof that the climate crisis,
if not controlled, will ultimately demolish the well-being of people,
plants and animals, Rogers remains firmly optimistic that “we can do it.”
The EDN offers loads of resources and information to educate people on how
to restore the earth.
Earth Day 2020
According to Rogers, the main campaign for Earth Day 2020 is EARTHRISE,
which embodies the urgent need for climate action through education and
inspiration to effect change. EDN is promoting and supporting Strike With
Us, a unique coalition of youth-led climate groups and adult allies, that
will comprise the largest group of intergenerational activists
participating in this year’s Earth Day activities.
Despite the EDN’s emphatic call to action to encourage as many people as
possible to take action through peaceful rallies, strikes, voter
registration and the like, Rogers insists families and schools can do small
things that are meaningful and still support the Earth Day movement.
“For example, you can decide as a family to do something around nature. It
can include conversation and simple things like hiking, walking, doing
things in the yard, planting things and doing local clean-ups in your
community,” notes Rogers.
In particular, Rogers discusses the importance of community cleanups and
citizen science – an awareness of air and water pollution and associated
health issues – and encouraging people to take steps to counteract damage
done to the environment. Keeping close with Gaylord Nelson’s initial vision
to avoid creating a central body that organizes and manages Earth Day,
Kathleen Rogers and the EDN enthusiastically support environmental actions
of others and list Earth Day activities taking place globally. Earth Day
events are searchable on the Earth Day Network website: earthday.org.
