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EARTH DAY
Earth Day is a name used by two different
observances held annually in the (northern) spring, both intended to
inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth's environment.
The Equinoctial Earth Day
The equinoctial Earth Day is celebrated on the vernal equinox to mark
the precise moment that spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere and
autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. On equinox, night and day are in
equal length anywhere on Earth. Therefore, a perfectly vertical pole
standing on the equator at noon during equinox will not cast a shadow.
At the South Pole, the sun sets and ends a six-month-long day while at
the North Pole, the sun rises and hence ending six months of continuous
darkness.
The United Nations marks Earth Day each year on the vernal equinox
(around March 21). On February 26, 1971, UN Secretary-General U Thant
signed a proclamation to that effect. At the moment of the equinox, it
is traditional to observe the day by ringing the Japanese Peace Bell, a
bell donated by Japan to the United Nations.[2] The United Nations also
works with organizers of the April 22nd global event.
John McConnell first introduced the idea of a global holiday called
Earth Day at a UNESCO Conference on the Environment in 1969, the same
year that he designed the Earth flag. The first Earth Day proclamation
was issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto on March 21, 1970. U
Thant supported John McConnell’s global initiative to celebrate this
annual spring equinox event. Secretary General Waldheim observed Earth
Day with similar ceremonies in 1972. The United Nations Earth Day
ceremony continued each year on the day of the March equinox (20th or
21st), with the ringing of the U.N. Peace Bell at the very moment of the
equinox.
The April 22 Earth Day
Gaylord NelsonResponding to wide spread environmental degradation,
United States Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin called for an
Environmental Teach-in or Earth Day to be held on April 22, 1970. Over
20 million people participated and it is now observed each year by more
than 500 million people and national governments in 175 countries.
Senator Gaylord Nelson, an environmental activist in the U.S. Senate,
took a leading role in organizing the celebration, to demonstrate
popular political support for an environmental agenda. He modeled it on
the highly effective Vietnam War protests of the time.[3] Senator Nelson
selected Denis Hayes (a Harvard student and Stanford graduate) as the
National Coordinator of activities. The nationwide event included
opposition to the Vietnam War on the agenda. Pete Seeger was a keynote
speaker and performer at the event held in Washington DC. Paul Newman
and Ali McGraw attended the event held in New York City.[4]
According to Santa Barbara Community Environmental Council:
"The story goes that Earth Day was conceived by Senator Gaylord Nelson
after a trip he took to Santa Barbara right after that horrific oil
spill off our coast in 1969. He was so outraged by what he saw that he
went back to Washington and passed a bill designating April 22 as a
national day to celebrate the earth."[5]
Senator Nelson stated that Earth Day "worked" because of the spontaneous
response at the grassroots level. 20 million demonstrators and the
thousands of schools and local communities participated.[6]
Earth Day proved extremely popular in the United States and around the
world. The first Earth Day, in 1970, had participants and celebrants in
two thousand colleges and universities, roughly ten thousand primary and
secondary schools, and hundreds of communities across the United States.
More importantly, it "brought 20 million Americans out into the spring
sunshine for peaceful demonstrations in favor of environmental reform."
Senator Nelson directly credited the first Earth Day with persuading
U.S. politicians that environmental legislation had a substantial,
lasting constituency. Many important laws were passed by the Congress in
the wake of the 1970 Earth Day, including the Clean Air Act, laws to
protect drinking water, wild lands and the ocean.
Now observed in 175 countries, and coordinated by the non-profit Earth
Day Network, www.earthday.org, Earth Day is the largest secular holiday
in the world.
Also of note, an unofficial earth day is widely celebrated on Illinois
State University's campus annually. For 2007 the unofficial earth day is
on April 13th. This celebration has many students recycle cans, and also
plant vegetables on the quad.
Growing Eco-activism before Earth Day 1970
The 1960s had been a very dynamic period for ecology in the US, in both
theory and practice. It was in the mid-1960s that Congress passed the
sweeping Wilderness Act, and Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas
asked, "Who speaks for the trees?" Pre-1960 grassroots activism against
DDT in Nassau County, NY, had inspired Rachel Carson to write her
shocking bestseller Silent Spring (1962).
The Aftermath of Earth Day 1970
The momentum of all this thought and action helped make Earth Day
happen. It is generally accepted that this momentum was increased by the
event itself. The first Earth Day is commonly credited with creating
environmentalism, and/or giving a tremendous boost to the pre-existing
conservation groups and the relatively new and radical grassroots
ecology movement, as well as spurring the growth of environmentally
sensitive spiritual paths such as Wicca and Neopaganism.
Earth Day's leading organizer Denis Hayes said he wanted Earth Day to
"bypass the traditional political process," [1]. However, Earth Day's
effect on the political process was immediate and powerful, including
the passage of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the
Endangered Species Act. Earth Day was a resounding success.
Grassroots groups have sought to make Earth Day into a day of action
which changes human behavior and provokes policy changes.[8]
The significance of the date
April 22 is the birthday of American television star Eddie Albert, an
early environmental activist.
April 22 is also the birthday of Julius Sterling Morton, the founder of
Arbor Day, a national tree-planting holiday started in 1872. Arbor Day
became a legal holiday in Nebraska in 1885, to be permanently observed
on April 22. According to the National Arbor Day Foundation "the most
common day for the state observances is the last Friday in April . . .
but a number of state Arbor Days are at other times to coincide with the
best tree planting weather." It has since been largely eclipsed by the
more widely observed Earth Day, except in Nebraska, where it originated.
April 22 1970 was the 100th birthday of Vladmir Lenin. Time reported
that some suspected the date was not a coincidence, but a clue that the
event was "a Communist trick" - then quoted a member of the Daughters of
the American Revolution complaining that, "Subversive elements plan to
make American children live in an environment that is good for them."[2]
J. Edgar Hoover may have found the Lenin connection intriguing. [3] The
idea that the date was chosen to celebrate Lenin's centenary still
persists in some quarters, although Lenin was never noted for his
environmental credentials.
Trivia
The alternative rock group Dramarama released a song about Earth Day
called "What Are We Gonna Do".[9]
First conception of Earth Day originally was proposed in a memo to JFK
written by Fred Dutton.
Canadian musician Devin Townsend released a song entitled "Earth Day" on
his 2002 album Terria. His work often invokes environmental themes and
concepts.
The official Earth Day 2000 slogan of the Young Republicans was: EARTH
FIRST! We'll log Earth first, other planets later!
Students at Illinois State University celebrate Unofficial Earth Day the
Friday before the actual Earth Day because their undying love for the
earth has to be let out an entire week early.
The equinoctial Earth Day coincides with the national Iranian new year.
For thousands of years, the Iranian people of many ethnicities have
celebrated the first 13 days of spring called Norouz.
"May there only be peaceful and cheerful Earth Days to come for our
beautiful Spaceship Earth as it continues to spin and circle in frigid
space with its warm and fragile cargo of animate life."
--United Nations Secretary-General U Thant
March 21, 1971.[1]
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