There was oil in the ocean and dead wildlife on the beaches. On January 28th, 1969, there was an oil well blowout off of Santa Barbara, which cracked the sea floor in five places, spilled an estimated 3 million gallons, and stretched along 35 miles of the California coast. It was the largest oil spill until the Exxon Valdez of 1989. Across the country, as well as the world, smog was a major problem in many cities. The Great Smog of London, from December 5-9, 1952 killed 12,000 people, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. The Hudson River was heavily polluted with toxic chemicals and fish had disappeared for many miles of it, leading folk singer Pete Seeger to found the Hudson Clearwater Project as a means of both cleanup and education. The issues had been building for decades, but the oil spill proved to be the tipping point. It spurred Wisconson Senator Gaylord Nelson along with environmentalist Denis Hayes to create the first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970. An estimated 20 million people from New York to San Francisco came out to celebrate and a portion of Fifth Avenue had to be closed. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
In the half century that has since passed, several important changes have taken place. 1970 also saw the birth of both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act. The Clean Water Act came in 1972 and the Endangered Species Act in 1973. What started out nationally soon grew to an international movement and in 1990, Earth Day was celebrated in more 140 countries. On Earth Day 2016, 174 nations and the European Union signed the Paris Agreement, which was an international effort to reduce greenhouse emissions.
The creation of Earth Day had a profound effect on environmental policy and spearheaded much important legislation. Nevertheless, there is much more to do and many of the laws that came with Earth Day and the EPA are now under threat. This Earth Day, there will not be events drawing millions of people. However, what is important to remember is that Earth Day brought about both needed legislaton as well as a change in awareness of our impact on the planet. To date, we have found no other planet capable of supporting life which serves as a reminder that our blue and green dot in the universe is truly unique.
The Nature Journal 