As Many as One Billion People to Participate in Earth Day 2010
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin joined Wisconsin Congressman Dave Obey in introducing a resolution commemorating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, 2010, and honoring the founder of Earth Day, the late Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold will introduce a companion resolution in the Senate. “Gaylord Nelson recognized that the best way to save the planet was to get the people involved. Through Earth Day, he reminded us that preserving our environment, finding renewable sources of energy, eradicating poverty, and ensuring health care for all, will not be achieved by the words of politicians, but by the will of the people. He left a powerful and lasting legacy,” Baldwin said. “The fortieth anniversary of Earth Day is a great day to call attention to the many environmental and public health challenges that face everyone on the planet. It is also a great opportunity to reflect on the history of the Earth Day movement and to pay tribute to one of recent history’s great statesmen and founding father of the movement, our former Senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson,” Obey said. Earth Day was “born” in September, 1969. In a speech, Senator Nelson suggested that, just as Americans had been involved in “teach-ins” to protest the Vietnam War, the country should also set aside a day to call attention to the environmental problems facing our planet and to demand that Congress address those pressing issues.The first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970, brought together 20 million people and gave rise to the modern American environmental movement. Forty years later, as many as one billion people globally may participate in Earth Day 21010 on April 22, 2010. In addition to founding Earth Day, and among numerous legislative accomplishments, Senator Gaylord Nelson was responsible for legislation that created the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and the St. Croix Wild and Scenic Riverway, and sponsored legislation to ban phosphates in household detergents.
