Diversity Affairs Feature

Earth Day

Earth Day Flag

"May there only be peaceful and cheerful Earth Days to come for our beautiful Spaceship Earth as it continues to spin and circle in frigid space with its warm and fragile cargo of animate life."--United Nations Secretary-General U Thant
March 21, 1971.


Gaylord Nelson

Responding to wide spread environmental degradation, United States Senator Gaylord Nelson called for an Environmental Teach-in or Earth Day to be held on April 22, 1970. Over 20 million people participated and it is now observed each year by more than 500 million people and national governments in 175 countries. Senator Gaylord Nelson, an environmental activist in the U.S. Senate, took a leading role in organizing the celebration, to demonstrate popular political support for an environmental agenda. He modeled it on the highly effective Vietnam War protests of the time. [3] Senator Nelson selected Denis Hayes (a Harvard student and Stanford graduate) as the National Coordinator of activities. The nationwide event included opposition to the Vietnam War on the agenda. Pete Seeger was a keynote speaker and performer at the event held in Washington DC. Paul Newman and Ali McGraw attended the event held in New York City.

According to Santa Barbara Community Environmental Council:
"The story goes that Earth Day was conceived by Senator Gaylord Nelson after a trip he took to Santa Barbara right after that horrific oil spill off our coast in 1969. He was so outraged by what he saw that he went back to Washington and passed a bill designating April 22 as a national day to celebrate the earth."

Senator Nelson stated that Earth Day "worked" because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities participated.

Earth Day proved extremely popular in the United States and around the world. The first Earth Day, in 1970, had participants and celebrants in two thousand colleges and universities, roughly ten thousand primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of communities across the United States. More importantly, it "brought 20 million Americans out into the spring sunshine for peaceful demonstrations in favor of environmental reform."

Senator Nelson directly credited the first Earth Day with persuading U.S. politicians that environmental legislation had a substantial, lasting constituency. Many important laws were passed by the Congress in the wake of the 1970 Earth Day, including the Clean Air Act, laws to protect drinking water, wild lands and the ocean.

Now observed in 175 countries, and coordinated by the not for profit Earth Day Network, www.earthday.org, Earth Day is the largest secular holiday in the world.

The Aftermath of Earth Day 1970
The momentum of all this thought and action helped make Earth Day happen. It is generally accepted that this momentum was increased by the event itself. The first Earth Day is commonly credited with creating environmentalism, and/or giving a tremendous boost to the pre-existing conservation groups and the relatively new and radical grassroots ecology movement.

Earth Day's leading organizer Denis Hayes said he wanted Earth Day to "bypass the traditional political process". However, Earth Day's effect on the political process was immediate and powerful, including the passage of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act. Earth Day was a resounding success.

Grassroots groups have sought to make Earth Day into a day of action which changes human behavior and provokes policy changes.

Earth Day 2007 will highlight an inclusive global environmental theme, which will be promoted through educational and community learning materials, available at www.earthday.net/goals. These include information and resources for taking action on key issues such as climate change, forests, biodiversity, water, and energy.

Earth Day offers a unique opportunity to join with other concerned citizens around the world who are working toward a sustainable future for all of us. The Earth Day Network invites you to use the leverage of Earth Day to highlight issues that are of greatest concern in your community.