Coming of age in the late sixties was an interesting and ultimately productive time. Besides producing some of the best music ever(!!), it was a time of revelatory experiences and activism. Vietnam, civil rights, women’s rights and so many issues were being questioned and fought for.

Just coming off a couple of decades of unequalled growth, jobs, manufacturing, housing and more…all going gangbusters, but at the same time creating huge adverse impacts to our environment. Pollution from litter, carcinogen filled smoke, smog, waste in water and more, all pretty much unchecked.

By the late sixties and early seventies it was catching up to us with a vengeance. Water sources, rivers, lakes and oceans became our dump sites for everything from, raw sewage to toxic waste chemicals. It was so bad, rivers were literally catching on fire. Air pollution from sulfuric smoke, lead laced auto exhaust and other toxic fumes was just as nuts. In some cities smog was so bad people not only were rarely seeing the sun on sunny days, but were dying from breathing it and regular alerts telling folks not to go out were not uncommon.

Then, several things started to come together. Part of it was the Country’s overall mood, protest was in the air and waking up the mainstream. Also Rachael Carson’s book “Silent Spring” that came out in 1962 was a best seller and continued to be for several years, widely creating awareness to a reality that even if you didn’t actually see it…pollution was causing harm to human health and well being. People were beginning to wake up and small groups started forming to try to figure out what to do.

Several folks are credited with the creation of Earth Day and this new environmental movement. US Senator Gaylord Nelson(D), who witnessed the massive Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969 was one key initiator. He persuaded US Representative Pete Mc Closkey(R) to serve as co-chair of a committee he formed to work on these issues and they brought in Harvard professor Denis Hayes to be the coordinator. Together, with others joining in, they created what would come to be known around the world as Earth Day and the new environmental movement.

On April 22, 1970, they and over 20 million Americans (10% of the US population) joined together and took to the streets in rallies and marches in what would be known around the world as Earth Day. It brought Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, urban and rural, business and labor all together to organize and work for a healthier environment. By the end of that year, the US Environmental Protection Agency was created, which led to the Clean water Act, the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Over the years, these acts have been debated, sometimes strengthened and sometimes weakened, but they never before have been as decimated as they have in the last couple of years. As one of many activists who participated so many years ago, I ask us all, who love clean water and air for every generation, to not let up. We need you more than ever to go out and give “Earth Day” its voice back!

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