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HISTORY OF EARTH DAY
"Earth Day achieved what I had hoped for. The objective was to get a nation-wide demonstration
of concern for the environment so large that it would shake the political establishment out of its lethargy and, finally, force this issue permanently onto the national political agenda."
- Senator Gaylord Nelson, founder of Earth Day
Gaylord Nelson was born on June 4, 1916, the third of four children, in Clear Lake, Wisconsin. At the age of fourteen, he organized a campaign to plant trees along all five roads that lead to Clear Lake.
After earning a BA degree in 1939 from San Jose State College in California, and an LLB at the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1942, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a first lieutenant. After the war, he practiced law back in Wisconsin before entering public service as a state senator in 1948. Ten years later, he was elected Governor of Wisconsin.
As governor, he won legislative approval for the Outdoor Recreation Acquisition Program. Financed by a one-cent-per-pack cigarette tax, the program acquired land rights to private parks and wetlands, and paid property owners to preserve the land as wilderness.
In 1962, Mr. Nelson was elected to the U.S. Senate. He gained an appointment to the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee. In his first speech in the Senate, he spoke of the serious environmental impact of foaming detergents on rivers and lakes, and called for a "comprehensive and nationwide program to save the national resources of America." Senator Nelson also introduced the first legislation to ban DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane), a chemical pesticide which caused abnormalities in birds and fish. In 1970, he delivered a speech on the Senate floor proposing his environmental agenda.
In 1969, Senator Nelson was inspired by teach-ins held on college campuses to protest the Vietnam War, and decided to organize a similar event on behalf of the environment. On April 22nd, 1970, an estimated 20 million people participated in the first Earth Day. Across the nation, grade schools, high schools, college campuses, and communities participated in Earth Day activities. Congress recessed for the day so House and Senate members could speak at local events, New York City's 5th Avenue was closed to automobile traffic, and about 100,000 people attended an ecology fair in Central Park.
After leaving the Senate in 1981, Mr. Nelson continued his work as counselor to the Wilderness Society. On September of 1995, he was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton, honoring his lifelong commitment to the environment.
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| SENATOR NELSON'S 1970 ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA |
From his Senate speech, January 19th
1. A constitutional amendment stating: "Every person has the inalienable right to a decent environment. The United States and every State shall guarantee this right." 2. Rid America of massive pollution from the internal combustion engine, hard pesticides, detergent pollution, aircraft pollution, and nonreturnable containers. 3. Enhance quality of life through family planning. 4. Create an environmental advocacy agency that will involve citizens in environmental policy activities. 5. Reduce ocean pollution by regulating oil drilling. 6. Establish an environmental education program for all levels of education. 7. Develop mass transit to reduce the use of private automobiles. 8. Adopt a national land use policy to reduce the chaotic, unplanned combination of urban sprawl, industrial expansion, and air, water, land, and visual pollution. 9. Establish a national minerals and resources policy that encourages wise use and conservation. 10. Establish national air and water quality policies.
11. Create a nonpartisan national environmental political action organization that encourages public involvement at all levels of government |
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