Earth Day

[Dry Ice]

April 22 will mark Earth Day.

The first Earth Day was in 1970.

Each year, this day promotes awareness of environmental issues.


Wikipedia

In January 1970, the Environmental Teach-In decided to call their one-off event held on April 22nd, Earth Day. The successes day led to it becoming a regular event. Senator Gaylord Nelson, an environmental activist in the U.S. Senate, took a leading role in organizing the celebration, to demonstrate popular political support for an environmental agenda. Senator Nelson staffed the office with college students and selected Denis Hayes (a Harvard student and Stanford graduate) as coordinator of activities. It was the era of student political activism and outdoor protests that attracted news cameras.

According to Senator Nelson, Earth Day "worked" because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. Though he felt his committee had neither the time nor resources to organize the 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated, these things did happen. According to the Senator, "It organized itself."

The "holiday" proved extremely popular in the United States. The first Earth Day, in 1970, had participants and celebrants in two thousand colleges and universities, roughly ten thousand primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of communities across the U.S. Senator Nelson directly credited the first Earth Day with persuading U.S. politicians that environmental legislation had a substantial, lasting constituency. In 1971 Senator Gaylord Nelson announced an 'Earth Week' — for the third week of April — as a yearly event.

Many important laws were passed by the Congress in the wake of the 1970 Earth Day, including the Clean Air Act, laws to protect drinking water, wild lands and the ocean. The EPA was created within three years of the first Earth Day.

Day leadership fractured over the years, with Hayes and Nelson and other widely-known Earth Day leaders favoring more programmatic and conventional public relations approaches to the observance(s), while grassroots groups have sought to make Earth Day into a day of action which changes human behavior and provokes policy changes.

The date chosen for Earth Day is coincident with the historical date of Arbor Day, a national tree-planting holiday started in the late 1800's. Arbor Day is celebrated on the birthday of its founder, Julius Sterling Morton. Another reading of the April 22 date understood by Earth Day organizers notes that the 1970 event took place between college students' Spring Break and final exams, enabling students to participate on campuses across the country.

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I suggest that FPM Forum prepares a special thread for April 22 where all major environemntal issues in Lebanon would be discussed.

One of the suggestions would be to create a Green Party in Lebanon, unlike GreenPeace, this party would be a full-fledged player in politics, addressing all issues, however putting environmental matters as a priority.

Such parties are really influential in countries such as Germany, Scandinavia, France and others.

This is our environment, we cannot ever underestimate the effect that it has on us.

Thanks for your support.

[Dry Ice]

http://www.earthday.net/about/default.aspx

This excellent website contains lots of information about Earth Day.

[milhouse]

Thanks Dry Ice for this topic; which apparently is not attractive to forum members... oppss, they are busy in the use-less political debates.. whereas enviroment should be an essential element in politics.

peace

[coralie]

well this issue is very important and intresting but i dont see why its in the political section !

[3i3o]

I support your idea Dry Ice and I think it can be useful politically also, I think people take a good idea of whoever that does such a positive initiative, and why not the FPM. It has always been the pioneer in similar cases.

P.S: This cause will be better served if there was some competition between political parties, I mean imagine FPM and LF for example both doing ecological projects…This way they will be helping Mother Nature and in the same time attracting more enthusiastic.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by coralie

well this issue is very important and intresting but i dont see why its in the political section !

Because it it a political matter!

Environmental issues are between the most important political issues in the West, why don't we try to emulate them and put environment as a political concern?

This is how real politics are conducted!

[Inanna]

Many important laws were passed by the Congress in the wake of the 1970 Earth Day, including the Clean Air Act, laws to protect drinking water, wild lands and the ocean. The EPA was created within three years of the first Earth Day.

let's see we have:
- the zouk power station!
- the station in shika
- the garbage mountain in saida!
help me here...
we have kassarat cutting the mountains, factories throwing their garbage in the sea! people throwing food and tissues on the streets~
earth day in lebanon should be a day where we start to open our eyes are try to take further steps to improve our situation!
lebanon is becoming an unhealthy country! where's the ministry of health!? the problem with this country is:
- we have laws that are not applied
- we have rules that need to be changed!

SAVE THIS COUNTRY FOR GOD'S SAKE!

[Dry Ice]

We have to start by ourselves, can you say Inanna that you never endangered the environment, or aren't doing so currently?

I believe if each one of us did an introspection, we can do a lot to enhance the way we deal with our environment.

[Inanna]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

We have to start by ourselves, can you say Inanna that you never endangered the environment, or aren't doing so currently?

I believe if each one of us did an introspection, we can do a lot to enhance the way we deal with our environment.

well i always learned ever since i was a kid i should never through garbage on the streets! when i went to a pick nick i cleaned before i left! ... i think i can be a good example! not the best cos i dont work in an organization or a group to help improve the situation!

but you have a point! many lebanese people are really harming our beautiful nature or what is left of it!

[LeXeU]

TAKE THE FIRST STEP: EXAMINE YOURSELF



CARBON CALCULATOR

Take It Day By Day
Want to do something to stop global warming but worried it's hopeless? There is a way out. You can take simple actions to reduce the amount of carbon you put into the atmosphere and save a load of cash while you're at it. Take it day by day and track your progress throughout the year.

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