When the first Earth Day occurred, back in 1970, the idea that the environment could be threatened was a novel concept. We saw smokestacks as a sign of industrial progress. We poured leaded gasoline into oversize Cadillacs. Pesticides and herbicides were seen as serving the food production, and a much larger majority of the population smoked cigarettes. Almost no one did yoga.
Inspired by the anti-war movement and horrified by the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, CA, founder Gaylord Nelson, A US Senataor from Wisconsin, started Earth Day to infuse public consciousness about the effects of pollution and push environmental protection onto the political agenda.
20 million Americans took to the streets. Thousands of colleges organized protests. Individual groups that had been fighting local issues found a common cause. Environmental organizations were born.
Image above Copyright © The New York Times
Front Page – April 23, 1970
It was effective. Within a year we had something called the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the passing of bills for Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species.
By 1990 Earth Day mobilized 200 million people in 141 countries, putting environmental issues on the international, global stage.
This was progress, but we are far from the results we need.
Today the earth is more threatened than ever. Global warming has become a climate emergency that has the potential to cascade into utter disaster—if we pass important tipping points. Climate change effects crop production, water supplies, weather patterns, disease control, and contributes to wars.
The head of the EPA, Scott Pruit, is now someone who doesn’t believe in climate change or environmental protections. He is supported by a Congress that serves business interests over environment and a president who wants to roll back all regulations, to say nothing of withdrawing from the milestone Paris Agreement.
It is clear the government will not serve us in this absolutely vital necessity to protect our world for the future.
It falls now on the people to take action, on environmental organizations to come together to create their own EPA, and for all of us to get involved in whatever way we can.
Earth Day can be our re-birth day, for truly the environment is the bottom line storehouse of true wealth for the future of humanity.
Here’s what Lawrence says about getting the ebook at no cost:
We have a unique twist on this year’s celebration, which we like to refer to as Global Warming Emergency Mobilization week.
In a nutshell, here’s our offer:
You take a selfie that clearly shows you are at an Earth Day, Science March, or People’s March for Climate, Jobs and Justice.
===>> Email* your selfie to: SelfieEarthDay@JobOneForHumanity.org.
We’ll send you directions for how to download your own free copy of the newly published book!
*Please include the image in the email, not as an attachment; we won’t click on or acknowledge attachments for security purposes.
I hope you take advantage of his offer. The book is a well researched, no-holds-barred treatise on the subject, outlining both the pending disaster and the possibilities to change it—if we acknowledge the urgency and mobilize dramatically.
Brightest Blessings,
Anodea Judith
April 22, 2017