Earth Day: A 39 Year-old Protest
It’s been 39 years since the first Earth Day celebration when 20 million people around the country made their voices heard in support of environmental responsibility and demanded that the federal government pay attention to the planet.
Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first nationwide environmental protest “to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda. ” “It was a gamble,” he recalled, “but it worked.”
On April 22, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his youthful staff organized massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values. (Earth Day Network)
Today, when “going green” has become a marketing slogan, and Earth Day is (to some) a time to simply pat yourself on the back for finally recycling those plastic bags, it is imperative we remember that the first Earth Day was a PROTEST!!! A movement of the counter-culture, the beginnings of a revolution, an action for the brave, passionate and determined (The eco-chic, whatever that means, need not apply!)
Where has this fervor gone? Why are we content to buy organic t-shirts, offset our SUVs carbon emissions, and sit up in our air-conditioned houses eating strawberries in December??
I would venture that Earth Day is not supposed to be a feel good celebration. It should make you uncomfortable and pissed off. It should spur you to action! Write a letter, ditch your car, unplug your TV, stop eating meat, plant a garden- whatever you feel like doing, just DO IT. Let the next generation see that we did not accept our polluted fate quietly, but fought- loudly and consistently, for ourselves, for them, for the planet we must all share.