America in the 1970s was being consumed by pollution from massive V8 sedans, and air pollution for the most part was accepted as a necessary side effect of economic prosperity.
Gaylord Nelson, founder of Earth Day, was a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin at the time, and the first to propose a nationwide environmental protest in hopes of forcing the issue of the environment onto the national agenda.
On April 20, 1970, Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to speak out about the importance of a healthy, sustainable environment.
Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, organized massive coast-to-coast rallies-inspiring thousands of colleges and universities across the country to organize protests against the deterioration of the environment.
The activism on Earth Day in 1970 achieved rare political support from all facets of politics and members of society.
Republicans, Democrats, rich, poor, urbanites and farmers, all threw their support behind the new environmental movement.
As a result, the United States government created the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air, Clean Water act, and the Endangered Species act.
Senator Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom-the highest honor given to civilians in the United States-for his role as Earth Day founder.
On Earth Day in 1990, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign.
Hayes decided to take Earth Day global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and bringing environmental issues to the world stage.
Earth Day 1990 is credited with giving a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide.
In 2000, the Earth Day movement enlisted the Internet in order to link activists around the world.
Thanks to the Internet, 5,000 environmental groups reached out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries on Earth Day in 1990.
"Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level," said Nelson recently, adding, "We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself."
The 40th anniversary of Nelson's revolutionary movement will undoubtedly be another to remember, as cities across the country are planning environmental workshops, rallies, panel discussions, and much more.
Until next time,
Hilary
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