It was on that day that Americans made it clear that they understood and were deeply concerned over the deterioration of our environment and the mindless dissipation of our resources. That day left a permanent impact on the politics of America. It forcibly thrust the issue of environmental quality and resources conservation into the political dialogue of the Nation. That was the important objective and achievement of Earth Day. It showed the political and opinion leadership of the country that the people cared, that they were ready for political action, that the politicians had better get ready, too. In short, Earth Day launched the Environmental decade with a bang."

Gaylord Nelson, 1980

APRIL 22, 2007.-

Earth Day is celebrated in the United States and world wide since 1970. It started as an initiative by Senator Gaylord Nelson (Wisconsin) to protest against widespread environmental degradation in the country. In a conference in September 1969, Senator Gaylord called for a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. Over 20 million people responded to the first Earth Day held on April 22, 1970. Thanks to the successful popular demonstration, the U.S. Government created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That same year, the U.S. Congress amended the Clean Air Act to set national air quality, auto emission, and anti-pollution standards. One of the first actions taken by EPA was to ban DDT, a cancer causing pesticide.

How Americans celebrate Earth Day: In universities and schools, environmental conferences are held and documentaries shown; In parks, wetlands and forests, Americans volunteer on Earth Day to pick-up trash, pull invasive weeds and perform a myriad of other tasks to help protect and improve the environment. These activities are organized in a festive and celebratory way, but represent just a fraction of the work done day after day to protect the environment.

U.S. Government Websites:

Earthday.gov
URL: http://www.earthday.gov/

Environmental Protection Agency
URL: http://www.epa.gov/earthday/

Earth Day 1970: What it meant (by Gaylord Nelson, April 1980)
URL: http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/earthday/02.htm

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
URL: http://www.noaa.gov

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration- Education Resources
URL: http://www.education.noaa.gov

Marine Protected Areas of the United States
URL: http://www.mpa.gov

Endangered Species Program
URL: http://endangered.fws.gov

National Marine Sanctuaries
URL: http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/awic/

Other Links of Interest:

Earth Day Network
URL: http://www.earthday.net/

Wilderness Society
URL: http://earthday.wilderness.org