Earth Day was established in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, US Senator from Wisconsin, who conceived the idea to hold a nationwide teach-in, in order to call attention to the need for environmental protection. This was partly in response to the massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California that occurred in January 1969.  Also in 1969, the Cuyahoga River in north-eastern Ohio that feeds into Lake Erie became famous for being so grossly contaminated that it “caught fire.” At that time in history, cars used leaded gasoline, industrial air pollution regulations had not yet been legislated, and the ocean shorelines, lakes, and rivers of America were clogged with trash and contaminated by toxic runoff. As early as 1962, Rachel Carson had published Silent Spring, documenting the dangers caused by pesticides, such as DDT, that were commonly over-used by farmers at that time.  She provided a clear explanation of the scientific evidence detailing the connection between public health and pollution.

Earth Day, the genesis of the modern environmental movement, was built on the experience gained by student anti-war demonstrations.  Senator Nelson, in collaboration with Denis Hayes who was the first national Earth Day coordinator, launched the appeal for environmental policies to safeguard public health and to provide care for the environment and wildlife.  On April 22, 1970, millions of Americans, including many university students, took part in protests around the country, demanding action to protect the environment.  By the end of 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created, and Congress passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

In 1990, the Earth Day celebrations began to be promoted globally, with participation by around 200 million people from 141 countries.  For the Earth Day celebrations held today, nearly 195 countries are expected to participate in rallies and other activities that have been organized by the nonprofit Earth Day Network.  You can find more information and watch for plans to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day in 2020 at the Earth Day Network website, www.earthday.org.

It seems unfortunate to me that, in our current twenty-first century historical timeframe, care for the environment is being walked backwards in the United States. Enforcement of environmental regulations has been weakened, and it seems likely that the US will withdraw from the landmark Paris climate accord that was signed on Earth Day 2016, by nearly all United Nations member countries.  I find withdrawal difficult to agree with, because there is objective, clear scientific evidence that human activities have contributed to environmental and meteorological changes at both local and global levels.

In a little bit of an aside, if you are interested in finding out more about ecofeminism, I highly recommend reading Elizabeth Johnson’s Madeleva lecture “Women, Earth, and Creator Spirit” which succinctly spells out the connections between women and the earth.  In this lecture, she traces the roots of environmental degradation to dualism and the world view it has produced, and she makes the case that taking care of our Earth is a sacred responsibility.

I am personally dismayed at the thoughtless and devastating way we care for our home planet, but I want to end this blog post on this positive note.  One of the quotes I like to use for my Mary Magdalene celebration is by Susan Griffin. Here is the quotation, along with the acrylic monoprint I made to go with it.  It presents the beauty and creativity of nature and the positive connection between women and the Earth.

This earth is my sister; I love her daily grace, her silent daring, and how loved I am, how we admire this strength in each other, all that we have lost, all that we have suffered, all that we know:  we are stunned by this beauty, and I do not forget: what she is to me, what I am to her…

…because I know I am made from this earth, as my mother’s hands were made from this earth, as her dreams came from this earth and all that I know, I know in this earth, the body of the bird, this pen, this paper, these hands, this tongue speaking, all that I know speaks to me through this earth and I long to tell you, you who are earth too, and listen as we speak to each other of what we know: the light is in us.

Susan Griffin (1978)

 

Reference 1: Carson, Rachel, “Silent Spring,” First Mariner Books 2002 edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY, 1962.

Reference 2: Johnson, Elizabeth, “Women, Earth, and Creator Spirit,” Paulist Press, New York, NY, 1993.

Reference 3: Griffin, Susan, “Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her,” Harper and Row Publishers, New York, NY, 1978.

Photo Credit: Alan Levine, public domain, flickr.com, November 20, 2016.