Posted by Ken Shum
April 21, 2010
April 21, 2010
EARTH DAY’S 40th ANNIVERSARY
| EARTH DAY’S 40th ANNIVERSARY |
| Celebration Hatched by Former US Senator Memo to Reporters  WASHINGTON D.C., April 2, 2010-- In 1993 American Heritage magazine called Earth Day "one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy." Twenty million people participated. And as we approach this anniversary (Thursday, April 22), we thought you might want to find out exactly how Earth Day was born. The person who hatched the idea was Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. At the time, he was a U.S. Senator. Here’s his account, from a 1998 speech:
In 1962, I suggested that President Kennedy go on a nationwide conservation tour, spelling out in dramatic language the deteriorating condition of our environment, and proposing an agenda to begin addressing the problem. The president began his tour in the fall of 1963. Senators Hubert Humphrey, Gene McCarthy, Joe Clark, and I accompanied him on the first leg of the trip. For many reasons, including a breaking story on a nuclear missile treaty, the tour failed to make the environment a national political issue. Six years would pass before the idea for Earth Day occurred to me. It was the summer of 1969, and I was on a conservation speaking tour out West. [One stop was in Santa Barbara, where Nelson was stunned by the damage done by the offshore blowout that became the largest oil spill up to that time. It lasted 11 days and blackened beaches. There was a great deal of turmoil on the college campuses over the Vietnam War, and many colleges held anti-war teach-ins. On a flight to the University of California-Berkeley, I read an article on the teach-ins, and it suddenly occurred to me: Why not have a nationwide teach-in on the environment? In a speech given at Seattle in September, I formally announced that there would be a national environmental teach-in sometime in the spring of 1970. The story ran nationwide. Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in. The Wilderness Society takes a special interest in Earth Day because when Nelson left the Senate in 1981, he joined our staff. He was our counselor for a quarter century, until his death in July 2005. Three people with close links to Nelson are available to discuss Nelson, the first Earth Day, his legacy, and current environmental challenges:
On Sunday, April 25th, Earth Day Network and partner organizations will host a massive climate rally on the National Mall to call on Congress to enact climate and clean energy legislation this year. For more information on events around the country, consult Earth Day Network’s calendar: http://www.earthday.org/events/be-heard-climate-rally-%E2%80%93-national-mall-%E2%80%93-april-25th-2010 To learn more about The Wilderness Society's Celebration of the 40th Earth Day, visit: http://wilderness.org/content/earth-day-40 The Wilderness Society is the leading public-lands conservation organization working to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care about our wild places. Founded in 1935, and now with more than 500,000 members and supporters, TWS has led the effort to permanently protect 110 million acres in 44 states. www.wilderness.org Contact: Ben Beach, (202) 429-2655, ben_beach@tws.org |
