Earth Day 2008
Today is Earth Day, the April 22nd one, not to be confused with the Equinox Earth Day in March or the Earth Hour, also in March, or any of the various World Days (World Day for Water, World Day for Cultural Diversity, World Jump Day, et al). Each year, the April 22 Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.
Among other things, 1970 in the United States brought with it the Kent State shootings, the advent of fiber optics, “Bridge over Troubled Water,” Apollo 13, the Beatles’ last album, the death of Jimi Hendrix, and the meltdown of fuel rods in the Savannah River nuclear plant near Aiken, South Carolina — an incident not acknowledged for 18 years. At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans, industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press, and air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. “Environment” was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.
But Earth Day 1970 turned that all around, thrusting the environment onto the national agenda. On April 22, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment.
Earth Day 1990 mobilized 200 million people in 141 countries and lifted the status of environmental issues onto the world stage, giving a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helping pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Earth Day 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. Using the Internet to help link 5,000 environmental groups in a record 184 countries, it sent the message loud and clear that citizens around the world wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy. And Earth Day 2007 was one of the largest Earth Days to date, with an estimated billion people participating in the activities world wide.
Today, Earth Day Network reaches over 17,000 organizations in 174 countries, while the domestic program engages 5,000 groups and over 25,000 educators coordinating millions of community development and environmental protection activities throughout the year. Notable is that Earth Day is the only event celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities with more than a half billion people participating in Earth Day Network campaigns every year.
Who cares? Well, we all should. We can argue whether the pendulum has swung too far or not yet far enough, but we all agree that environmental issues command an important place on the world agenda and that we all share responsibility for the proper care and feeding of Mother Earth.
By the way, what ever happened to Captain Planet and the Planeteers? Did environmental extremists (or Turner) render them irrelevant? Anyone?
Doug
in Ecology, Conservation, History, Opinion, Politics
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An excellent post, informative too! Can't say what happened to Captain Planet. The show was part of early environmentalism aimed at kids was it? I guess it worked and was no longer needed.
Very good post, but you omitted reference to the genesis of the movement. It was inspired by a speech by Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wis.) in 1969. The Earth Day celebration in Philadelphia was planned and organized by a group led by Ian McHarg, the late professor emeritus of landscape architecture and urban planning whose book, Design With Nature, introduced environmental concerns to landscape architecture. The department which he founded and chaired was the major focus for the celebration, which culminated in 30,000 people at Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park that day.
You can read an excellent "history" of Earth Day" written by Gaylord Nelson here.
The environmental movement has more to do with resurecting socialism than saving the earth!
Bolivian President Evo Morales told a UN forum that capitalism should be scrapped if the planet is to be saved from the effects of climate change. “If we want to save our planet earth, we have a duty to put an end to the capitalist system.”
While we gaze around at the beauty we want to protect, be aware that "environmentalism" is being used by world whackos to bring down capitalism. They fly around in their Gulfstreams, enjoying the fruits of capitalism, while preaching that capitalism must be brought down to "save the planet". For those of you still in the dark, the U.S. is a capitalist society. Capitalism is why we are great!
Pay attention! Don't get lulled into thinking all the greenies really care about the planet.
I am well aware. At the same time, I don't think we should cease trying to protect the planet just because there are Marxists using the movement for evil.
I thought you, being a staunch conservative, didn't believe in the environmentalist movement....
Hey Frank!
I believe in capitalism. At the same time, I believe we are custodians of the planet and need to act responsibly toward our environment. That requires balancing the goals of capitalists and environmentalists so that neither are ignored. We can't destroy our environment in the pursuit of capitalism any more than we can unreasonably hamstring capitalism in the name of environmentalism. Political discourse is healthy as long as it works toward compromise and, in that respect, I applaud the Earth Day people and much of what they have accomplished. However, one side defeating the other would be disastrous for either our way of life or for the environment in which it exists.
I believe fascism, however, has no place in the equation. There are groups of people among the throngs of "Earth Day" evangelists masquerading as environmentalists whose primary goal is the destruction of capitalism, and they are not all as easy to recognize as Bolivian President Evo Morales. Many don't even know they are being used to serve that purpose, believing instead they are merely "aggressively enthusiastic" environmentalists. I look at them all with a slightly jaundiced eye.
So, am I an environmentalist? Yes. Am I a capitalist? Hell yes! Does that mean I'm a conservative? No. But I am.
Doug
An eco-friendly fiscal conservative.
If I had to choose a title, I'd be a sort of fiscally conservative classical consequentialist libertarian (small "l").
Doug
BTW, here is the info on Cap'n Planet....
It is an American animated environmentalist television program, based on an idea by Ted Turner. The series was developed and co-produced by Turner Broadcasting System and DiC Entertainment and ran new episodes from September 10, 1990 until 1993. A sequel series, The New Adventures of Captain Planet, ran from 1993–1996 and was produced by Turner Broadcasting and Hanna-Barbera Productions. But both programs are still alive and well in syndication.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Planet_and_the_Planeteers
Do I win a free t-shirt or something?