Column – The True Cost of Earth Day

By Bart King The first Earth Day, held on April 22, 1970, rallied 20 million Americans, who believed the environment wasn’t receiving the attention it deserved in national politics. It gave a single voice to numerous grass roots movements protesting oil spills, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides and loss of wilderness. The success of that event led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species acts. Better industrial practices have lessened the direct environmental threats to communities across the United States and abroad. But the overall condition of the planet has worsened since 1970, as its human population has nearly doubled to 6.8 billion people. Natural resources like fresh water and tropical forests are dwindling, and it’s becoming more difficult to hide our waste, much of which is plastic and will be around long after our children—and theirs—have lived through a fair share of Earth Days. But after nearly forty years, saving the Earth is finally at or near the forefront of American politics, pushed there by growing awareness of global climate change and a national energy policy that leans too heavily on imported oil and other limited fossil […]

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