earth day's impact on modern society
Earth Day changed life for many people. Many people who helped major environmental causes wouldn't have been able to do so. Earth day inspired many people to do great things and gave them the confidence, skills, and resources to do so.
"Many high-school students and college students changed their career ambitions. Many graduate students changed the focus of their research or abandoned their studies to work full time on the environmental issues. Many adults also decided after Earth Day to devote themselves to the environmental cause."(Rome, 2013)
" And that is what got me interested in environmental science."(Howe, 2014)
" The Environmental Protection Agency banned CFC's in aerosol sprays in 1977. The 1987 Montreal Protocol then began a global phase out of all CFC use."(Rome,2013)
CFC was very harmful to our environment and the Ozone layer. When the ozone layer is damaged harmful UV rays from the sun can affect all life forms on the Earth. The organizations that worked to get CFC banned were all created because of the First Earth Day.
"As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro."(Earth Day Network,2013)
"The Earth Day that falls on April 22 each year began in 1970 as a nationwide teach-in about the environment, which was conceived by U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson and organized by a Harvard University student named Denis Hayes."(West,2014)
"As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. With 5,000 environmental groups in a record 184 countries reaching out to hundreds of millions of people, Earth Day 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. It used the Internet to organize activists, but also featured a talking drum chain that traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa, and hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Earth Day 2000 sent world leaders the loud and clear message that citizens around the world wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy."(Earth Day Network, 2013)
The Keystone XL pipeline is considered a major environmental hazard.
"An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 protesters converged on the nation’s capitol Sunday to press President Obama to block construction of the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport tar-sands oil from Canada to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico."(Howell,2011)
Today we know our right to a clean and habitable environment, and we work hard to fight for it. Earth day has helped millions of Americans to come together as a group to demonstrate that we care about the environment, and this makes lawmakers take environmental issues seriously.