|
There are days left until Earthday April 22, 2004. |
Saturday April 22 2004, will be the 34th anniversary of Earth Day, kinda sorta. The International Earth Day Celebration, organized and sponsored by the United Nations fixes Earth Day as March 21, the vernal equinox or the first day of spring. Earth Day American style grew out of a proclamation by Senator Gaylord Nelson requesting that April 22, 1970 be set aside for a nation wide environmental teach-in day. Why two earth days?
Perhaps it's another example of the subtle but powerful reach of American hegemony. After all, a March celebration of Earth Day in America would conflict with another great celebration, March Madness, the quest for college basketball supremacy. Perhaps it's little more than weather related. In most of the U.S., March is much too cold a month for getting out into the great outdoors to celebrate the earth. Perhaps the politics underlying the dating of Earth Day is inconsequential. If orthodox and mainstream Christians can agree to disagree on the date to celebrate Christmas, surely fans of the earth can find room to celebrate two different Earth Days. Two for the price of one always sounds like a good deal.
Earth Day 2000, American style, like most of its predecessors, expanded in both thematic range and geographic scope. The theme was Earth Day, "Clean Energy Now", representing a concerted effort by the organizers to bring to light the environmental unfriendliness inherent in the world's reliance on a fossil fueled economy. From Washington D.C.,. to Tokyo, to New Delhi, the global community was invited to attend fairs dedicated to showing the benefits of renewable energy sources, or to attend rallies protesting the use of nuclear generated energy.
Earth Day events are getting underway in 183 countries, leading up to the 31st anniversary of Earth Day this Saturday, April 22.
This year's Earth Day campaign is focusing on global warming, says Denis Hayes, chair of Earth Day Network and one of the organizers of the first Earth Day in 1970.
In the U.S., the flagship event will be a massive fair and rally in front of the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
In South Africa, Earth Day organizers are staging a mock evacuation from an area around a nuclear plant.
In Indonesia, a million cars will be kept off streets in a national car-less day inaugurated by the president.
In London, an eco-festival focused on renewable energy is expected to draw 40,000 people.
Major events are also planned for New Delhi, Beijing, Warsaw, and thousands of other cities around the world.
she challenged the practices
of agricultural scientists and the government,
and called for a change in the way
humankind viewed the natural world.
Earth Day Online !
Earth Day related information on the Ecology Crossroads website.
Earth Day Network Resource Archive "Earth Day - Make a
Difference"
www.cfe.cornell.edu/EarthDay/ednethome.html
Earth Day Organization Resources
www.cgs.clemson.edu/earthday.html
your connection to Earth Day Events & Activities!
Earth Day Headquarters;
All the best Earth Day information sources gathered in one place. The top 80 links to Earth Day
resources!<>www.taxpolicy.com/earthday.htm
Environment Examination - an earthly view Celebrate Earth Day Worlds of
Wonder with Discovery Online Help...<>
The Environmental Protection Agency's Earth Day Site
Earth Day On Your Block
www.allspecies.org/block.htm
Earth Day Resources
Learn what young people can do for a successful Earth Daywww.cam.org/~cdsl_ps/Earth_Day/earthday.htm
Earth Day Organizer's Guide
"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
Use Earth Day as a powerful catalyst to involve people in making a difference toward a clean, healthy, prosperous future.
