Earth Day Origin
Earth Day was founded by the United States Senator Gaylord Nelson after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. The first environmental teach-in happened on April 22, 1970. Climate change was still a secret, not to the scientists, but to the public. The economy raced along, consumerism occupied most people’s mind. Life was good. What could possibly go wrong?
Present Day
Today, Earth Day is a twenty-four-hour spotlight on the forces ravaging our air, water, and earth and affecting agriculture, animal and human environments, and aquatic ecosystems. The celebration also focuses on the innovative achievements developed by scientists, inventors, and innovators to deal with rising seas, reinforced coastal cities, and recycling.
Educate
In my continuing effort to better understand changing environments around the world, I have watched The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Our Planet and The Polar Sea, series on NETFLIX. From the comfort of my home, I explored the past, present, and future — if we fail to act, fail to acknowledge the changing climate, the diminishing wildlife, the mass human migrations caused by environmental destruction.
The problem is enormous, what can we do?
- Please sign the online petitions below to save our environment and wildlife.
- Support candidates running for office who make Climate Change/Green New Deal a priority.
- Support local efforts in your community to plant trees, protect from nature’s forces, eliminate single plastic use, eliminate plastic bags, and urban planning.
- Support elected officials who support actions to eliminate fossil fuel, protect the earth, air, and water on the State and Federal Level.
Celebrate Earth Day every single day of the year.
Our present and future depend on it.
Petitions follow:
Save Chaco Canyon from Fracking
This petition is less than 4,000 signatures away from its goal of 40,000—and it will close on April 30th. Please help get it to its goal!
From the petition: “Chaco Canyon is a truly perishable natural resource, and one of the finest examples of the architecture and prehistory of Native Americans. It will be destroyed if fracking is allowed to be done there.”
Petition from MoveOn.org
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Protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
From the petition: “In a move that will hasten climate change and have devastating consequences for people, wildlife, and pristine public lands, the Trump administration is rushing forward with a reckless plan to begin oil and gas lease sales within the refuge’s coastal plain—an area that the Gwich’in have called “the sacred place where life begins.” At the same time, the administration is barreling ahead to approve dangerous seismic testing on the coastal plain. Seismic testing would be incredibly destructive to wildlife—taking place in critical habitat for polar bears, right in the middle of denning season—and the fragile landscape.”
Petition from The Sierra Club
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Tell Burger King to Get Rid of Plastic Foam
This petition needs help getting off the ground. It only has a few thousand signatures, with a 45,000 goal. But it seems so obvious –right? Plastic foam is bad! There are alternatives!
From the petition:
“Plastic foam cups and containers are one of the worst plastic polluters. Demand Burger King, the largest fast food company that hasn’t yet committed to eliminating these products, get rid of foam cups now!
“Too many communities throughout the country can’t access safe, reliable drinking water. The Trump administration’s latest proposal would make that problem worse.
For more than 46 years, thanks to the Clean Water Act, we have made significant progress in making our water safer for swimming, fishing, and drinking, yet it’s clear there is still much more to be done. But instead of doing more to safeguard our water, the Trump administration’s Dirty Water Rule will turn back the clock to a time when fewer protections existed to safeguard people and wildlife from harmful pollution in our waters.
Drinking water sources are interconnected. Streams flow into larger rivers and lakes and wetlands are connected to watersheds. No body of water, no matter how small, is safe to pollute.
The Trump administration is putting the profits of corporate polluters ahead of the needs of our communities, businesses, and drinking water. Tell the EPA to withdraw this outrageous scheme to wipe out protections for water.” Read more here…
Petition from The Sierra Club
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Stop Attacks on Endangered Gray Wolves
U.S. Fish and Wildlife just announced their plans to start a process to strip Endangered Species protections from all gray wolves in the lower 48. Tell USFWS: don’t delist!
Cadbury: Stop Using Dirty Palm Oil
Palm oil production is often extremely bad for the environment and it can directly harm endangered species. Companies have been creating massive plantations meant to grow these plants. To make these plantations (that are in places that house endangered species like orangutans, rhinos, and tigers), deforestation has to happen, and that means destroying ecosystems that in turn severely threatens endangered species. Homes of humans and animals alike are destroyed, and burning of trees to make way for plantations is a huge contributor of greenhouse gases.
Cadbury and its owner, Mondelez, have destroyed tens of thousands of acres of orangutan habitat in just TWO YEARS on their hunt for palm oil. The orangutan species is critically endangered, and although Mondelez has claimed that it has been purchasing entirely responsible palm oil since 2013, a recent report showed that much of the oil Cadbury is sourcing is still unsustainable and destructive.
An estimated 50,000 orangutans have already died as a result of these horrible practices. Sign and share this petition for them.
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Don’t Let the Trump Administration Roll Back Green Light Bulb Standard
The Trump administration wants to roll back energy efficiency light bulb standards despite the energy and cost saving potential.
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