COVER
FEATURE - 22
APRIL 2009 - www.WaterwaysNews.com
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“Earth Day
worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level.
That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It
organized itself.”
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EARTH
DAY SONG
The
setting was 1960’s Vietnam War-torn America. Amidst an atmosphere
and in the shadow of the Vietnam war, there was a mood for change and
a mood of impassioned social concern. Until then the American psyche
was pre-occupied with the American dream, and the American ambition. To be concerned about nature or other social concerns was resigned to
the crankies and the liberals. It was before there
was any
legislation such as the Clean Water Act or the Endangered Species
Act.
Environmental regulations
were few and pollution high. Americans were starting to take notice. The media carried news
that Lake Erie, one of America’s largest bodies of fresh water, was
declared dead.The release of
Rachel Carson’s best-seller “Silent Spring” caused the American public
to seek answers on pesticide use. Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River was so polluted.....
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CUYAHOGA RIVER
....with oil and
toxic
chemicals, that it burst into flames up to eight feet high by
spontaneous combustion. The Senator organized a Presidential
conservation tour across 11 states for John F. Kennedy. Continued...
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The tour didn’t succeed in bringing
environmental issues to the
to the national public agenda, because the issues of Vietnam were in
the forefront. However it captured the notice of Gaylors Nelson and he
wanted a similar weight from college campuses and Students across the
country as the Vietnam protests to bear on the politicains. In
September 1969 he announced that a nationwide grassroots demonstration
would occur on behalf of the environment in the spring of 1970. He
invited any one to participate. Two thousand colleges and universities;
10,000 high schools and grade schools and several thousand communities
participated in the event: 20 million people strong. The
response was so great. President
Richard Nixon created the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
It's mandate to protect the environment and public health. In the
years following the following new legislation became law. More
than a billion people in 174
countries observe Earth Day. It is “the largest secular civic event
in the world,” according to EDN the coordinating and nonprofit
body. back
to start
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1970:
Congress amends the Clean Air Act to set national air quality, auto
emission and anti-pollution standards.
1972: Congress passes the Clean Water Act, limiting sewage and
pollutants from entering the nation’s rivers, lakes and streams.
1974: Congress passes the Safe Drinking Water Act, allowing the EPA to
regulate the quality of public drinking water.
1976: Congress passes the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act,
regulating hazardous waste from production to disposal.
1976: President Gerald Ford signs the Toxic Substances Control Act to
reduce environmental and human health risks.
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EARTH
DAY SONG
