Earth Day 2020

Aspens, San Juan Mountains, #5

Today is the 50th (!) anniversary of Earth Day and the birth of the modern environmental movement. I’ve been wrestling with what to say about this, especially during the times of a global pandemic. Since the first Earth Day there have been incredible successes of the environmental movement — here in the US, the passing of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, the creation of the EPA, and so on (more details here). But all of these successes are at risk from the current administration as well as the increasingly conservative courts — I have little doubt that many of these environmental protections will be in shreds in the next decade.

Discussion of the impact of the environmental movement over the last 50 years cannot ignore the larger problem looming over us of climate change. I wish I had a more positive and uplifting message for today, but the problems facing us are immense and the fight will be long and hard — but fight we must, in hopes of making a better world for future generations.