Politics & Government

What is Earth Day and When Did It Start?

The Day Grows into Middle Age

In Spring 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson, D-Wisc,  created Earth Day as a way to “force this issue onto the national agenda.” 20 million Americans demonstrated in different U.S. cities, and it worked, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In December 1970, Congress authorized the creation of a new federal agency to tackle environmental issues, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency..

According to the New York Times, nearly 20 million Americans attended the first Earth Day celebration on April 22, 1970, to this day among the most participatory political actions in the nation's history.

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In the beginning, the event influenced environmental politics, triggering such national legislation as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. "Earth Day is a commitment to make life better, not just bigger and faster," the organizers of the first celebration wrote in their manifesto. "It is a day to re-examine the ethic of individual progress at mankind's expense," according to the Times.

So strong was the antibusiness sentiment for the first Earth Day in 1970 that organizers took no money from corporations and held teach-ins "to challenge corporate and government leaders," the Times continued.

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The day has turned into a premier marketing platform for selling a variety of goods and services, like office products, Greek yogurt and eco-dentistry. The environmental movement's tolerance of corporate America is an admission of its need to take money from corporations or at the least become partners with them if it is to change social behavior, the Times said


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