Earth Day: The History and Legacy

Earth Day history begins in the late 1960s when Wisconsin senator and environmental activist Gaylord Nelson saw the need to raise political awareness about the environment. His travels around the country convinced him that the public was concerned about the health of the environment but that this message had not reached the politicians in Washington, DC. His idea for mass environmental rallies was spurred by the Vietnam protests of the day.

He took the leap in 1969 and announced at a conference that there would be a nationwide campaign for the environment in the spring of 1970. As Nelson later wrote at envirolink.org, "The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric. It took off like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all across the country." As plans for the first Earth Day progressed, the work was too much for his Senate staff and a full-time office was set up with college students as volunteers and Denis Hayes as the coordinator.

April 22, 1970, was the date set for Earth Day. Nearly 20 million people across the country participated in Earth Day activities that first year. People held demonstrations and school children participated in educational activities. Writing 10 years after the first Earth Day, Nelson explains the impact in a 1980 EPA journal article: "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."

Earth Day 2009 will again be held on April 22. Although it may seem like a relatively innocuous event celebrated by environmentalists, the legacy of Earth Day demonstrates the far-reaching political impact of Nelson's idea. It is probably no coincidence that 1970 was also the year that President Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act was signed into law. DDT was banned and the Clean Water Act was signed in 1972. The Superfund to cleanup toxic sites was created in 1980. The Energy Star program began in 1992. The Healthy Forests Restoration Act was signed by President Bush in 2003. These and other environmental milestones are listed on the EPA's Environmental Progress timeline. Nelson hoped to raise political awareness and, as we approach Earth Day 2009, it appears that he was successful.