Earth Day and the birth of the EPA

The first Earth Day in April 1970 was part of a growing movement to raise public awareness of environmental concerns such as air and water pollution, to force environmental protection on to the national political agenda.  Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, Representative Pete McCloskey of California, and Denis Hayes from Harvard took the idea of a “national teach-in on the environment” and ran with it.  A date between Spring Break and final exams, April 22, was selected as the date.

When the day came, 20 million Americans coast-to-coast demonstrated in rallies to protest the use of pesticides, toxic dumps, air pollution and a myriad of other activities leading to the deterioration of the environment. The movement gained such momentum that by the end of 1970 the United States Environmental Protection Agency had been created and the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts had been passed.

Earth Day went global in 1990, with 200 million people in over 140 nations participating, according to the Earth Day Network (EDN), a nonprofit organization that coordinates Earth Day activities.

History of Earth Day – https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-history-earth-day

How the First Earth Day Came About – http://earthday.envirolink.org/history.html

Earth Day History – http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/earth-day

The First Earth Day, April 22, 1970 – http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/modern/jb_modern_earthday_1.html

Earth Day 2016 events worldwide – http://www.earthday.org/earth-day/

Register your Earth Day event – http://www.earthday.org/earth-day/registerfind-an-event/