EARTH DAY - GLOBAL ACTION FOR A HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENT

(HN, April 21, 2010) This year marks the 40^th anniversary of the modern environmental movement, known globally as Earth Day. HUMNEWS spoke with Nate Byer, the Campaign Director for Earth Day 2010 about the focus for this year’s anniversary and mobilizing people to take action for a healthier environment.

Founded in 1970 by US Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, the first Earth Day aimed at shaking up the political establishment in the United States and forcing environmental issues of the day onto the national agenda. That year 20 million Americans took to the streets to demonstrate for a healthy sustainable environment. Enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, tycoons and labor leaders and people from all walks of life the first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species acts.

In 1990 Denis Hayes, (National Coordinator for Earth Day 1970) took Earth Day global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries. Earth Day 1990 took environmental issues onto the global stage and gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

This year Earth Day will be marked in 190 countries around the globe by 1 billion people taking part in Earth Day activities, making Earth Day the largest secular civic event in the world.

-reporting by Cristina Khalaf, video by John Gardiner