Earth Day: How a senator’s idea made people fight for their planet

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Millions of people around the world will pause on Monday, at least for a moment, to commemorate Earth Day. It is an annual event founded by people who hoped to generate activism to clean up and preserve a planet that is now home to some 8 billion humans and assorted trillions of other organisms.

Here are answers to some common questions about Earth Day and how it came about:

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WHY DO WE CELEBRATE EARTH DAY?

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Earth Day has its roots in growing concern about pollution in the 1960s, when author Rachel Carson’s 1962 book “Silent Spring,” about the pesticide DDT and its harmful effects on the food chain, reached to bestseller lists and raised awareness about the delicate balance of nature.

But it was a senator from Wisconsin, Democrat Gaylord Nelson, who had the idea for it to become Earth Day. Nelson had long been concerned about the environment when a massive offshore oil spill sent millions of gallons to the Southern California coast in 1969. Nelson, after touring the spill site, had the idea to make a “ national teaching on the environment. similar to the teachings taking place on some college campuses at the time to oppose the war in Vietnam.

Nelson and others, including activist Denis Hayes, worked to expand the idea beyond college campuses, with events across the country, and created the name Earth Day.

WHY WAS APRIL 22 CHOSEN FOR EARTH DAY?

A history of the movement by EarthDay.org, where Hayes remains chairman emeritus of the board, says the date of the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, was chosen because it fell on a weekday between holidays. spring and final exams and the goal was to attract as many students as possible.

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IS EARTH DAY A REAL HOLIDAY?

It is not a federal holiday. But many groups take advantage of the day to organize volunteer events with the environment in mind, such as cleanups of natural areas. You can view a list of events around the world or register your own event at EarthDay.org.

HAS IT HAD AN IMPACT?

Has. The overwhelming public response to the first Earth Day is credited with increasing pressure for the United States Congress to do more to address pollution, and it did, passing landmark laws like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. More broadly, it is considered the birth of the modern environmental movement. In later years, Earth Day expanded to become a truly global event. It now claims to have motivated actions in more than 192 countries.

In 2000, Earth Day began to take aim at climate change, an issue that has become rapidly more urgent in recent years.

WHAT IS THE THEME THIS YEAR?

This year’s Earth Day focuses on the threat plastics pose to our environment, with a call to end all single-use plastic and find replacements for it so it can be quickly eliminated.

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