This Friday the Club is looking back at the creation and legacy of Earth Day. Congress established Earth Day in 1970, following years of growing concern about the impact of unregulated environmental pollution.

This topic is presented in a video featuring Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. He will be our guide in a discussion of the origin of Earth Day. In addition, Tyson will explain how the book Silent Spring by author Rachel Carson served to catalyze public awareness and political action about environmental protection.

Join us this Friday at noon online for a look back at the significance of Earth Day and the environmental protections leading from its creation.

ABOUT EARTH DAY

Although it may not seem possible, at the time, our pollution problems were much worse than they are today. Then, raw sewage, trash, and pesticides freely fouled our land and waterways. In addition, unregulated chemical exhaust from vehicles, industry, and power production openly corrupted the air. An impactful campaign by the Ad Council called Keep America Beautiful highlighted this growing concern.

As a result of unbridled pollution, Americans increasingly experienced fatal illnesses like cancer and lung disease. They also witnessed the degradation of our wilderness and wildlife. The turning point in shifting public awareness about the links between pollution and biological health came with the release of the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. This bestselling publication showed direct evidence of the detrimental impact that humans were having on the natural world.

ABOUT OUR MEETINGS

The Democrat Club meets each Friday at noon online. We distribute a Zoom link for our club meetings each Thursday prior to the meeting date. Contact Phil at pjwmia@aol.com or Ruben at rmiranda2265@gmail.com, to request the link or assistance connecting. We will return to in person/online meetings as soon as it becomes safe to do so. You can find videos of past Club meetings at KootenaiCountyDemClub.com/Meeting Videos.