Abstract

On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated in the U.S. It was a national teach-in, brainchild of Gaylord Nelson, a Senator from Wisconsin. Some 20 million people assembled throughout the country in streets, parks, and auditoriums, and especially on the campuses of thousands of colleges and universities. Participants demonstrated against the degradation of nature and in favor of sustainability and a healthy environment free from pollution. A variety of many different organizations were involved that had been fighting against separate issues, such as oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, toxic waste dumps, pesticides, loss of wilderness, and wildlife species extinction. Since then celebrations have continued annually. They contributed to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species federal government acts in the U.S.