Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Happy Earth Day

Earth Day, an event to increase public awareness of the world's environmental problems, is celebrated in the United States for the first time. Millions of Americans, including students from thousands of colleges and universities, participated in rallies, marches, and educational programs.

Earth Day was the brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, a staunch environmentalist who hoped to provide unity to the grassroots environmental movement and increase ecological awareness. "The objective was to get a nationwide demonstration of concern for the environment so large that it would shake the political establishment out of its lethargy," Senator Nelson said, "and, finally, force this issue permanently onto the national political agenda." Earth Day indeed increased environmental awareness in America, and in July of that year the Environmental Protection Agency was established by special executive order to regulate and enforce national pollution legislation.

On April 22, 1990, the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, more than 200 million people in 141 countries participated in Earth Day celebrations.

Earth Day has been celebrated on different days by different groups internationally. The United Nations officially celebrates it on the vernal equinox, which usually occurs about March 21.

So them's the facts.........now here's my story.

My mother gave me a trip to Washington DC for Christmas in 1989 and I took it, all by myself, in April of 1990 so I could hang out with the hippies for a week.

There had not been an Earth Day held since 1970 so it was ripe for a big ole party!

I had the Steven Seagal ponytail at that time and had all the coolness needed to blend in with the those freaks that were hell bent on not working and saving the world.

I camped out on the lawn of the capitol and smoked grass with children of the earth. I ate hummis and veggie burgers. I kissed hippy-chicks.

All in all, it was a very cool time.

I got to meet my cousin Robert Kennedy, Jr. and talk politics and I got to see Ling Ling and whateverthefucktheotherpandasnamewas at the National Zoo.

It was a very cool week. I left feeling hopeful.

But nothing much has changed in the interviening 20 years.

Maybe I'll go back in 2030 and see what's up then!

Peace.

1 Comments:

Anonymous sw said...

Uh, you were married in 1990 while kissing hippie chicks. And you want to be my latex salesman?

2:00 PM  

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