Resource Happy Earth Day

The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970. The holiday was proposed in Spring 1970 by US Senator Gaylord Nelson to put environmental issues on the national agenda. On the first Earth Day, there were nationwide pro-environmental protests that an estimated 20 million people participated in.

The 1970s was a decade of environmental action. In addition to the first Earth Day, many environmental acts were passed and, organizations were created. Important environmental policies passed in the 1970s include the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (1970), the creation of the EPA (1970), the Clean Air Act (1970), the Clean Water Act (1972), and the Endangered Species Act (1973).

At Penn, we celebrate a whole Earth Week the same week as Earth Day. To view all the amazing events happening visit https://sustainability.upenn.edu/campus-initiatives/earth-week.

To learn more about the history of Earth Day, visit:

https://www.epa.gov/earthday

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/earth-days-modern-environmental-movement/