Gaylord Nelson, the former Wisconsin governor and U.S. Senator who founded Earth Day, remembers its beginnings.
For years prior to Earth Day, it had been troubling to me that the critical matter of the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of our country. The President, the Congress, the economic power structure of the nation, and the press paid almost no attention to this issue, which is of such staggering import to our future. It was clear that until we somehow got this matter into the political arena, until it became a part of the national political dialogue, not much would ever be achieved.
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April 21, 1996
A seemingly unlikely alliance of
religious and scientific groups has been formed for a common
cause -- to protect the environment. They are the odd couple at a growing number of save-the-planet meetings.
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April 21, 1996
The United Nations, which usually deals with governments, is mounting a grassroots campaign to improve the environment with the hope of founding small "Green Brigades" around the world. The U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) has published a book called "Taking Action: An Environmental Guide for You and Your Community." It was prepared to mark Earth Day on Monday.
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April 21, 1996
This Earth Day, everyone from advocates for the ozone layer to protectors of whales has a banner to fly. But the rain forest remains the devoted cause of the music community -- because of just one woman. Trudie Styler regularly organizes fund-raisers like one last week that raised $1.5 million for the Rainforest Foundation. Sting was the public draw to the benefit, but behind the scenes his wife, Trudie, really ran the show.
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April 21, 1996
The newspaper headlines tell Don Carson where to look for the next century's well-paying jobs. He says there's no doubt the fastest growing area of job opportunity in the next 30 years will be environmental cleanup. Carson heads the International Union of Operating Engineers' national hazardous materials training program in Grandview, West Virginia.
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April 21, 1996
Researchers are trying to create a little global warming in an Arizona farm field. They've set up an 80-foot-wide rink of pipes which release just enough carbon dioxide to push up levels to what's expected to exist in 50 years. The researchers want to know how the carbon dioxide affects plants so they can guess what effects increased levels may have globally.
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April 21, 1996
Some Idaho leaders in the Sierra Club fear the national referendum on adoption of a policy against any logging in national forests will only undermine their efforts for environmentally responsible use of America's natural resources. "It would make us a nonplayer essentially," said Dennis Baird, who heads the Sierra Club's Palouse Group and is on the Northern Rockies Chapter executive board.
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