Back in 1970 when an estimated 20 million people across the United States turned out to commemorate the first official Earth Day on record, the message was clear: protecting the earth was a matter of survival. According to earthday.org, a billion people will participate in Earth Day 2023 in countries all over the globe.
The day is said to be founded by the late Gaylord Nelson, a then junior Senator from Wisconsin, who had already been advocating for cleaner air and water ways through legislation that would later become the Environmental Protection Act. He initiated an effort to mark April 22 a national Teach-in day on campuses and in cities to educate students and the public already engaged in the anti-war movement to also take action to save the environment from further degradation. Senator Nelson enlisted an incredible campus organizer named Denis Haylen to coordinate the effort.
“Earth Day inspired 20 million Americans — at the time, 10% of the total population of the United States — to take to the streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate against the impacts of 150 years of industrial development which had left a growing legacy of serious human health impacts.”
In the lead up to the first Earth Day in 1970, the largest oil spill in US history thus far had devastated marine life and the shores surrounding Santa Barbara in 1969. Top tier media coverage of the spill was widespread, making the issue into a national conversation and resulting in televised Congressional hearings on the topic. A few months later, chemical waste in the Cuyahoga River caught fire – driving home the issue of industrial pollution. As millions of Americans watched, listened and read about the death of dolphins and Clevland’s river aflame, the moment was ripe to launch a unified effort to bring protections for the environment to the center stage.
Check out this 1970 CBS News Special hosted by Walter Cronkite covering some of the events.
What happened that first day is significant, as groups who worked to protect water and fight pollution came together in unity, across political party lines including both democrats and republicans. The turnout to the events on April 22 helped to build power in Washington, and enabled legislation to protect natural resources to move forward in Congress. The Environmental Protection Agency was formed in July of 1970, as well as the first environmental laws on the books in the United States. Within a year, the Clear Air Act was passed, then the Clean Water Act, and just a couple years later the Endangered Species Act.
Earth Day as a holiday continued to be celebrated throughout the 1970s and 80s, but it wasn’t until 1990 that it scaled up once again, this time on a global level. That year the group enlisted the support of Denis Hayes once again, this time to transform Earth Day into an international event. The results involved 200 million people from 141 countries participating in unified events.
Decade after decade people from around the world continue to commemorate Earth Day on or near April 22, by organizing educational events, demonstrations, and clean up projects on the day in their community. And 2023 is no exception.
Now, as we live as the first generation to experience the impacts of accelerating climate change, and as governments have failed thus to take bold enough action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to stem the worst impacts for the future generations, people will once commemorate the day with demonstrations, clean ups, and educational events. Earth Day events are taking place all around the world in 2023, with an estimated one billion people involved.
This year in Hawaii, a coordinated effort by many groups are facilitating more than 700 divers to participate in ocean clean up events across five islands. 100,000 people are expected to demonstrate an urgent need for action on climate during Extinction Rebellion’s The Big One events over the weekend in London. Historic events are planned on all five continents, including India, Sudan and Brazil, as well as many countries in Europe and the United States.
Here in the Rogue Valley, there are several options for people to attend including Rogue Earth Day at Southern Oregon University’s Farm Friday April 21 from 3-7 p.m. This family-friendly event will have activities for people of all ages, as well as more than 30 booths with action opportunities from local organizations and businesses.
