How it began Looking back at Earth Day’s start

Hayes in the early days of the environmental movement and today (left and center). The late gaylord nelson, former Wisconsin senator and Earth Day cofounder (right).

courtesy of the wIlderness socIety

 

“The most important thing you can do is vote for people who will change U.S. energy policy.”

“environmentalist” meant. The first Earth Day introduced a new vocabulary that allowed people to think about issues like air pollution from industrial smokestacks or lead-based paint in a profoundly new way. Earth Day brought these issues under the biggest possible tent: the need to reorganize human society according to ecological concerns. I remember news articles written immediately after Earth Day that found people identified themselves as environmentalists. By the end of the year, seven members of congress were defeated because of their record on the environment.

There’s a lot of confusion these days about the best way to stop global warming. What should the average consumer focus on? The most important thing you can do is vote for people who will change U.S. energy policy. Plus,

there are three key areas where individuals can have a tremendous impact. First, the operation of your home: Make sure you have the most efficient heating and cooling systems and the most energy-efficient appliances. Second, transportation: examine the fuel efficiency of the car you drive, and whether you can use public transportation. Third, your diet: Eat foods produced locally and organically whenever possible. The person who brings a cloth bag to a grocery store and the person who drives a hybrid to the store are both environmentalists. But realize that the hybrid driver is making a larger impact in reducing the use of fossil fuels. The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices from the Union of Concerned Scientists shows why driving a mile in a regular car uses a lot more fossil fuel than producing a plastic bag.

What kind of car do you drive?

I drive a Toyota Prius. I believe that this hybrid model is best suited to evolve into a plug-in hybrid.

What’s one green practice your family has adopted? The most important decision my wife and I made was to have only one child. The planet cannot support 6 billion people and even zero