He stepped back from directly managing this group and instead traveled across the country delivering speeches and meeting with activists. At the rally, he said, "the battle to restore a proper relationship between man and his environment, between man and other living creatures will require a long, sustained, political, moral, ethical and financial commitment far beyond any effort ever made before.
Therefore, in his speeches, he tried to establish a sense of community and unity. However, the relationship between environmental activists and Anti-Vietnam War protesters was complex and not always cordial. When Gaylord Nelson delivered his speech, his war metaphor angered some of his audience. In the Michigan Daily, James Shapiro dissented by saying "maybe we are here because some people want us to forget that there is a criminal war going on in Vietnam While the environmental activist movement was drawing the attention of many of the same activists that were challenging the war, the organizers of the movement were trying to use the momentum of the Vietnam and Laos protests to jump-start their movement.
Organizers, such as Dennis Hayes and Barbara Reid, wanted the two movements to work together hand in hand to change the world and to work together to "restore a proper relationship between man and his environment, between man and other living creatures. By , Gaylord Nelson had been traveling around the country for several years delivering speeches about ecology to college campuses and civic leaders.
The day before the first Earth Day, Nelson spoke to a full auditorium at Milwaukee Technical College, delivering a modified version of the speech that he had made in Ann Arbor a little over a month earlier. In his speech, he commended college campuses for being so engaged with the issue of ecology.
Gaylord Nelson was also fervently committed to opposing US involvement in Vietnam. Like many environmentalists, he cited the ecological damage that the prolonged conflict was causing as a reason to reevaluate our position. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today. Get smart curated videos delivered to your inbox.
Twitter Instagram. Primary Menu. Search for: Search. Gaylord Nelson and how Earth Day got started. Watch more with these video collections:. Nelson's decision to leave Earth Day to the grassroots proved genius. Exceeding their wildest expectations, Nelson and his staff estimated 20 million Americans — from 10, elementary and high schools, 2, colleges, and over 1, communities — took action on April 22, Though students lent the day a unique spirit, it did not draw out only the young.
Labor union members, housewives, farmers, scientists, and politicians of all stripes — from Barry Goldwater to Edward Kennedy — made up the mosaic of faces in Earth Day crowds. Throughout his life Nelson remained modest about his own contribution but was extremely proud of the nation's response:. After a decade marked by partisan rancor and social division, Nelson hoped Earth Day could form "a new national coalition whose objective is to put quality for human life on a par with Gross National Product.
The midterm election of spelled defeat for politicians linked to dirty industries, while President Nixon and many in Congress rushed to lend their support to the National Environmental Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and stringent amendments to the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. Despite the achievements, many remained suspicious that the new environmental politics in national discourse served to distract from the struggles against militarism, racism, and poverty.
In the Senate, Nelson worked to break through these perceived divisions between the era's major crises. He repeatedly called for elimination of the federal funds dedicated to the Vietnam War, defense technology, and the space program—money that Nelson wanted more effectively spent on toxic cleanup and green jobs. Nelson's aim with the first Earth Day was to light a fire for the environment in Washington, and Nelson felt satisfied it had done so.
He saw no need to replicate Earth Day. But Earth Day, born in rural towns and big cities across the country in , has remained an important annual way to raise awareness of local environmental issues each year. Nelson did work with allies to organize Earth Week activities in the 3 years that followed, with the explicit goal of installing an annual event in schools to promote environmental education.
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