Earth Day is a worldwide social-justice movement that was born in the early 1960s as a response to the Vietnam War. As part of this larger campaign, environmentalists and other activists took to the streets on April 22 to protest the destruction of the natural world caused by man-made global warming. The protests quickly grew into a global movement with more than a billion people signing statements declaring their support for global nature campaigns. This has led Earth Day to evolve from simply being about climate change into an international day of action on environmental issues throughout the world.
Earth Day 2015: A Year Of Action
The climatic changes that led to the start of the current century’s historic global warming event have made human activities responsible for catastrophic damage to the natural environment and biodiversity an increasingly tenable Sear. These include (but are not limited to) deforestation and degradation of habitats through over-exploitation of species and over-exploitation of resources such as water, energy, and minerals. At the same time, the rise of modern private property and the expansion of the consumer society have provided avenues for human involvement in the environment in a much more organized fashion. As these trends have grown more pronounced, Earth Day has become a national holiday. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes Earth Day as such and publishes annual reports analyzing trends within the calendar year. The first of these reports, published in 2011, found that the number of participants in Earth Day grew from 539,000 in 2010 to 639,000 in 2011, with a total attendance of 2.8 billion worldwide. The number of participants in Earth Day also grew during this year’s celebrations in the United States from 1.1 million to 1.8 million individuals.
The Future Of Earth Day
The year 2014 saw the highest number of people taking part in Earth Day in history. As has been the case for most years, it was followed by a period of relative quiet before international activities resumed in 2015 with the opening of the Asia-Pacific Economic Summit. Both events were notable for the level of corporate activity they attracted, with more than half of the 350 or so largest corporations taking part. The Chinese government also made an appearance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Summit, with Premier Wen Jiabao welcoming “all the people, big and small, from around the world” to China. In his remarks, the Premier stated that he hoped “Earth Day 2015 can mean more than just a little bit of change for the better.” The year 2015 also saw the first Earth Day on the American mainland, held in Washington, DC. Organized by the Campaign for the Integrity of Environmental Resources (COVID-E), Earth Day 2015 took place on August 29 and 30. More than a quarter of the 520,000 or so attendees were from the United States, where Earth Day has been celebrated every year since 1972.
Provenance and Protocol in Earth Day Ceremonies
The provenance of Earth Day has become a topic of lively debate in the wake of the decision of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to recognize and record the provenance of the events celebrated on that day in the federal records. According to the EPA’s records, and that of others on the march for the environment, Earth Day started in Greensboro, North Carolina, on April 22, 1962, as a protest against the construction of the interstate highway system and the subsequent destruction of the Great Smoky Mountains. It was followed by a month of marches and demonstrations in cities including New York, California, and Colorado. After the EPA records were released, some environmentally oriented organizations demanded that the march’s provenance be revealed. Environmentalists and environmental scientists also argued that disclosing the route of Earth Day in the United States required disclosing the provenance of other successful activist campaigns such as that of Idle No More. After weeks of debate, the Environmental Protection Agency released a final report in October 2012 that concluded that the provenance of Earth Day was central to its goals of “protecting and improving the environment.”
Conclusion
The future of Earth Day is still to be determined. Some individual members of the public may object to the designation of a specific day as an official holiday, while some organizations may wish to continue celebrating Earth Day as a purely social- JUSTICE initiative. After all, it has been more than two decades since the movement was first started and there are still many questions and concerns about the day. Regardless of which side of the fence one ends up on, it is clear that Earth Day is quickly evolving into an international day of action on environmental issues throughout the world. The movement is making significant strides toward inclusion of people from diverse backgrounds and interests in the movement, as well as greater engagement between the public and private sectors. This momentum has led Earth Day to evolve from simply being about climate change into an international day of action on environmental issues throughout the world. The march for the environment will continue to grow in both number and intensity as more people recognize the need to act on climate change. When done successfully every day, one can achieve much.
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