Earth Day 1970
Not many of us know that Earth Day has been around for a while. Nearly 39 years, to be precise. The first Earth Day took place on April 22nd 1970, marking the day when the movement for modern environmentalism was born.
The beginnings though, can be traced back as far as 1963, when Senator Gaylord Nelson, a democrat from Wisconsin, first voiced his concerns about the state of the planet. In 1969 he proposed Earth Day “to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda. It was a gamble… but it worked.” Nelson said.
And on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans rallied with Nelson – in parks, auditoriums, schools and streets – for a healthier Earth. Millions protested the industrial destruction of the environment and the results were tremendous:
” Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts”