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The birth of Modern Environment made history in 1970. And each April 22nd it is celebrated as Earth Day.
1970 marked such an exciting time in history. Fiber optics was discovered, Apollo 13 spaceship was a failure but everyone survived, and the Beatles delivered their last album together. Many rock stars died of drug overdoses, and Kent State had its famous shootings as the world watched horrified.
The founder of Earth Day was Gaylord Nelson. He was a Senator from Wisconsin, and he proposed a nationwide protest for the environment. It was meant to shake up the establishment and force the issue into the national agenda. And it worked.
People and industries polluted without remorse. And the environment was in trouble. Denis Hayes coordinated the national demonstration on the first Earth Day, and twenty million Americans showed up for it. They rallied coast-to-coast for a healthier, sustainable environment. Finally, environmental groups that had been fighting against factories polluting the air and water, and oil spills and the like, realized that they were not alone. They were getting support from people of all walks of life.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was formed due to the first Earth Day, and there were several acts passed, as well. These were the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Clean Water Act. The founder, Senator Nelson, was awarded the highest honor that could be give to a civilian in America. It was the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In 1990, Earth Day was celebrated throughout the world. Two hundred million people from 141 countries participated in the campaign, and it helped create the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Today, recycling efforts continue, as well as the constant attempt to improve our air and drinking water and eliminate pollution altogether.
Share
the Earth Day
History with your
kids as a bedtime
story.
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