Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first steps toward the creation of enviroment related politics and protests, and eventually Earth Day during a troubled time.In those times, mmany Americans were pumping thousands of gallons of leaded gas through sedans each day. Industry produced smoke and sludge without fear of breaking laws or angering the media. "Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity, and Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news."Earth Day really took off during a seven year time span starting in 1962. President Kennedy was convinced into making a several day/week campiagn to bring the enviroment and other enviromentally related issues into open politics. At first, none of this affected much. All across the country, environmental damage was appearing everywhere, and everyone noticed except the political establishment. The environmental issue was just seemed to have no place in the agenda of politicians, and the public began to get concerned.After President Kennedy's tour, six years would pass before the idea of Earth Day occurred to Senator Nelson. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans crowded streets, parks, and auditoriums to protest for a healthier environment. Denis Hayes was the national coordinator, he and his staff oraganized these massive 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, toxic dumps, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife quickly became the rallypoint and leaders of the rapidly growing revolution.Earth Day in 1970 became a universal stage for everyone whether they werre rich or poor, from the city or rural areas, and was a unifying experience. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and soon after the making of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts.Senator Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom which is the the highest honor given to a civilian in the United States. For 1990, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. They wanted Earth Day to go global. They mobilized 200 million people in 141 countries and lifted the status of environmental issues higher than anyone had previously thought possible. "Earth Day 1990" (as it was called) made recycling a fad, and the movement was a complete success.As the end of the century approached, Hayes agreed to advocate campaign. This time, the main focus was on global warming and for clean energy. "Earth Day 2000" used newer technology, and a heavily campaigned program to get its succes. It also had the Internet to help unite activists around the world. By April 22, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in over 184 countries.My two cents: Pretty cool stuff, huh? I think Senator Nelson should have been given several Presidential Medals of Freedom for his great work. Just think, we very well may not even be here if it weren't for the work of those who sought out ways to inform and get people involved in the race against time to save our planet from the havoc that we are ultimately reeking. For me, i am doing what I can to save energy. I am not using as much water as I used to, I recycle what I can, and I try to keep the lights and heat off during the day when the sun can provide for me. Happy Earth Day.
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