Joomla! site syndication http://zenger.us/joomla Sun, 20 May 2012 04:31:16 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://zenger.us/joomla/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://zenger.us/joomla Joomla! site syndication http://zenger.us/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=230&Itemid=9 . . . on April 22, 1970, Earth Day was held, one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy. . . -American Heritage Magazine, October 1993 What was the purpose of Earth Day? How did it start? These are the questions I am most frequently asked. Actually, the idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962. For several years, it had been troubling me that the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country. Finally, in November 1962, an idea occurred to me that was, I thought, a virtual cinch to put the environment into the political limelight once and for all. The idea was to persuade President Kennedy to give visibility to this issue by going on a national conservation tour. I flew to Washington to discuss the proposal with Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who liked the idea. So did the President. The President began his five-day, eleven-state conservation tour in September 1963. For many reasons the tour did not succeed in putting the issue onto the national political agenda. However, it was the germ of the idea that ultimately flowered into Earth Day. News - Environmental Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:20:58 +0100