EARTH DAY

EARTH DAY. Following an idea pioneered by the Democratic senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, the first nationwide Earth Day was celebrated on 22 April 1970. (A month earlier, San Francisco had organized its own Earth Day celebration at the instigation of the social activist John McConnell.) Concerned by the dark side of economic progress and inspired by the protest movements of the 1960s, twenty million Americans took to the streets to demonstrate for a cleaner environment. In its aftermath, President Richard M. Nixon proposed the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in July 1970 and Congress passed the Clean Air (1970), Clean Water (1972), and Endangered Species (1973) Acts. In 1990, Earth Day, held every year since 1970 on 22 April, became a worldwide celebration.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hayes, Denis. The Official Earth Day Guide to Planet Repair. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2000.

Philippe R. Girard

See also Conservation; Environmental Protection Agency.