History of Earth Day - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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History of Earth Day

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Founded by John McConnell in 1969. Two days: April 22 & March Equinox Day. April: Anniversary of birth of modern environmental movement ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: History of Earth Day


1
History of Earth Day
  • The Beginning of a Movement

2
Quick Facts
  • Founded by John McConnell in 1969
  • Two days April 22 March Equinox Day
  • April Anniversary of birth of modern
    environmental movement
  • Earth Day 2007 one of the largest to date
  • Estimated 1 billion people
  • Reach over 17,000 organizations in 174 countries
  • More than half a billion people participate each
    year
  • Largest secular holiday in the world

3
April 22 Earth Day
  • September 1969 conference in Seattle Washington
  • U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson
  • Announced in Spring 1970, nationwide grassroots
    demonstration
  • The setting 1970
  • Air pollution accepted as smell of prosperity
  • The word environment hardly known
  • 20 million Americans participated
  • Gave a boost to recycling efforts worldwide

4
Growing Eco-activism
  • 1960s dynamic period
  • Mid 1960s Congress passed Wilderness Act
  • Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring in 1962
  • Gaylord Nelson Environmental Activist
  • Modeled ED on Vietnam War protests
  • Thought to detract from the environmental message
  • Selected Denis Hayes, Harvard University, to be
    the national coordinator

5
The Results of Earth Day
  • 1st Earth Day persuaded U.S. politicians that
    environmental legislation was important
  • Important laws were passed after 1970
  • Clean Air Act
  • Laws to protect drinking water, wild lands,
    oceans
  • Creation of United States Environmental
    Protection Agency
  • Hopes to change human behavior and provoke policy
    changes
  • Been extended to Earth Week
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