Earth Day - It's Easy Being Green!

Earth Day, annually held on April 22, is designed to raise global awareness of the Earth's environment and how to better protect it. The first Earth Day was held in 1970 and organized by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, who was inspired to rally active support for the environment after witnessing the damage caused by the 1969 oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. Backed with tremendous support from grassroots activists around the country, the first Earth Day was a huge success, with an estimated 20 million Americans participating in peaceful demonstrations for the environment. Popular support for the first Earth Day led to significant milestones in environmental legislation in the U.S. and around the world.


The widespread appeal of the first Earth Day prompted landmark environmental legislation from the U.S. government. Approximately eight months after the event, the Nixon administration created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address the needs of the natural environment. The establishment of the EPA was followed by the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act of 1972, laws that set federal standards for acceptable levels of pollution in both air and water. Congress also passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973 to protect plants, animals, and the habitats in which they live.

Although the popularity of Earth Day dwindled in the years after the first event, the environmental movement continued to grow over the following decades. In the 1970s, Greenpeace was founded in Canada and the National Audubon Society and John Muir's Sierra Club began efforts to prevent commercial logging in old growth forests. Many environmental discussions also began to include questions about the role of CFCs as a greenhouse gas. In the 1980s, many American families started participating in community recycling programs. In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, commonly known as the Earth Summit, was held to bring attention to the effect humans have on the environment.


Since its roots as a protest movement in the 1970s, Earth Day has become a yearly reminder of the many issues facing the global environment. Earth Day festivities around the world often include rallies, exhibitions, or fairs that focus on topics ranging from the overlogging of rainforests to ozone depletion. In 2006, the Earth Day Network, an organization established by the founders of Earth Day, announced its plans to kick off a three-year campaign to reverse the damaging effects of global warming, an issue that has gained visibility and momentum in recent years.

"Earth Day." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2011.
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Further Reading

Crimes Against Nature: Illegal Industries and the Global Environment

Donald R. Liddick

This comprehensive analysis of garbage trafficking, wildlife trafficking, illegal fishing, and illegal logging highlights the difficulty in balancing human interests and environmental responsibility.

Beyond the Age of Oil: The Myths, Realities, and Future of Fossil Fuels and Their Alternatives
Leonardo Maugeri
Translated from the Italian by Jonathan T. Hine Jr.
This book offers a revealing picture of the myths and realities of the energy world by one of our most renowned energy experts and managers.

 
Encyclopedia of the U.S. Government and the Environment: History, Policy, and Politics
Matthew J. Lindstrom, Editor
A timely new comprehensive resource on the history of the U.S. government's approach to environmental policy.

The Roots and Rhythms of Latino Music

In March 2011, the U.S. Postal Service released a series of stamps in honor of five Latino musicians—Celia Cruz, Carlos Gardel, Carmen Miranda, Tito Puente, and Selena Quintanilla—who made important contributions to music history and culture in the United States. In the abridged commentary below, University of Houston professor Nicolás Kanellos offers his analysis of the dynamic and syncretic nature of music. He also makes the case that Latin American musicians and musical styles have had an important impact on popular music in the United States that stretches back centuries, though these contributions have gone largely unrecognized.

 In celebrating "Latin Music Legends" in a new series of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) stamps, the United States, through one of its most important institutions, is recognizing Latinos as a major cultural force in the nation. It is a force that has always been with us, although rarely acknowledged in the past as a dynamic contributor to our national history, images, and symbols...

 In fact, Latin music is one of those cultural markers that sets the Western Hemisphere, in general, and the United States in particular, apart from the "Old World." For it is the centuries' old blending of contributions from three continents—Africa, Europe and indigenous America—that has brought about Latin music's dynamic wedding of musical idioms, instruments, dances and rhythms. Long before there were recordings of country and Western music, the songs of the vaqueros, their fandangos and stringed instruments, and even their clothing, planted the base on which this American vernacular music would thrive, not only inducting the Spanish guitar and its playing styles but the indigenous vocal expressions that would characterize it....

 The story of the USPS stamps celebrating the legendary Selena, Gardel, Miranda, Puente and Cruz is not an indication that Latinos have arrived, for we were always here, always contributing to U.S. culture....These "legends" are only commercial and popular culture manifestations of what has always been below the surface of U.S. culture and from time to time emerges, as in the sudden appearance of these icons on official postage, to help us remember who we are and where we come from.

 Read Dr. Kanellos's full commentary by checking out the April Feature Story, "U.S. Postal Service Stamps Honor Latino Music Icons," on the Latino American Experience. If you are not already a subscriber, click here for a free trial.


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Additional Resources

The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience

Comprehensive, informative, and now even easier to use, The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience is the latest version of the first-ever database dedicated to the history and culture of Latinos—the largest, fastest growing minority group in the United States.