The first Earth Day was April 22, 1970, 41 years ago today. Earth Day began from an idea from a Wisconsin senator. His name was Gaylord Nelson and he had an idea to take the thousands of students protesting across the nation against the Vietnam War and unite them for another cause, to protect the environment. Up until this time, many people were driving gas-guzzling vehicles, there were no restrictions on factory waste and “protecting the environment” was not on most peoples agenda. Gaylord Nelson’s revolutionary idea helped spark a national debate over environmental controls that eventually turned international.
Gaylord Nelson graduated from San Jose State for his undergraduate degree before coming to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. He was a U.S. Senator for Wisconsin from 1963 to 1981. He also was the 35th governor of Wisconsin from 1959 to 1963.
Gaylord Nelson
Nelson got the idea for Earth Day after he saw the ravages of the 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. By using the power of the students across the nation and their ability and willingness to protest, he forced environmental protection onto the agenda of American politics. The very first earth day saw 20 million Americans stand up for the environment. This cause also garnered people across several political agendas, races and classes. All walks of life supported this movement, in which is why it gained so much steam.
Earth Day eventually went global in 1990 with the help of Denis Hayes, the original National Coordinator from the 1970 Earth Day campaign. Senator Nelson eventually was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 by Bill Clinton for his work with Earth Day and helping to create environmental controls across the world.
Today, the environment is increasingly becoming more important with the initiatives of the “Green” movement. The new “buzz-words” include the likes of sustainability, green and eco-friendly. People are recycling, driving hybrid cars, looking down upon companies that pollute and in general, thinking about the earth. This new movement is even creating new jobs in green energy, conservation, wind turbine technology and so much more. President Obama has even made it a national priority to create jobs in this sector. The “green” job sector is increasing and everyone should look to this industry for a career.
Nelson had this great idea over 40 years ago and just look at what is has become.
