By Mary O’KEEFE

Tuesday, April 22, is Earth Day. When I was a kid, Earth Day was when we would have walks to raise money to save the whales or bring awareness of overpopulation (a big thing in the ’70s). That was not long after Earth Day started and over the years I feel it has become a second thought instead of a day of honoring the Earth and learning about what we can do to help our planet survive.

The first Earth Day was in April 1970. I am old enough to remember the massive pollution, even in Iowa, of the air and water – it was a big thing. Of course we heard and saw pictures of LA’s pollution. My parents had friends in Anaheim who said there were days when it was just not safe for them to go outside without wearing a mask. 

Back then there was no Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), no Clean Water Act and no regulatory mechanisms to protect our environment, according to the EPA. 

“In spring 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day as a way to force this issue onto the national agenda. Twenty million Americans demonstrated in different U.S. cities, and it worked. In December 1970, Congress authorized the creation of a new federal agency to tackle environmental issues … the EPA,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“That day (Earth Day) left a permanent impact on the politics of America. It forcibly thrust the issue of environmental quality and resources conservation into the political dialogue of the Nation. That was the important objective and achievement of Earth Day. It showed the political and opinion leadership of the country that the people cared, that they were ready for political action, that the politicians had better get ready, too. In short, Earth Day launched the Environmental decade with a bang,” according to an article by Gaylord Nelson titled “Earth Day ’70: What it Meant.”

Nelson wrote that article 10 years after the launch of Earth Day. He stated that there were many who no longer cared about the environment, even writing obituaries for the environment movement of the ’70s. People had other issues taking center stage like inflation, the energy crisis and international conflict … (the more things change the more they stay the same).

“Those who write that view are uninformed and far removed from the environmental scene or the politics surrounding it. In fact, the politics of environmentalism are so pervasive, from the grass roots to the national capital, that it is hard to believe even the most casual observer could miss it. To anyone who has paid attention, it is clear that the environmental movement now is far stronger, far better led, far better informed and far more influential than it was 10 years ago. Its strength grows each year because public knowledge and understanding grow each year,” he wrote.

Well, wouldn’t that have been nice? The fact is there has been a kind of war between environmentalists and some politicians for a long time, and that was before the term “global warming” became the environmental equivalent of saying Voldemort …. (you know – don’t say it and it won’t exist). 

And now in some circles of politics, and the public, science – especially Earth science – has somehow become the enemy or “fake news.” Even when we see the effects of what happens when we ignore Earth’s health … effects of not just the things that we have ignored but the issues we didn’t – resulting in the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. 

Earth Day back then did raise awareness and Congress listened to their constituents by enacting the Clean Air Act, the Water Quality Improvement Act, the Water Pollution and Control Act Amendments, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act … just to name a few. 

As a kid, I remember what happened with the Great Lakes. In 1970, scientists said that Lake Erie was dying and that the other Great Lakes were also threatened – all of this because of pollution from steel plants, oil refineries, paper mills and city sewage plants that had been dumping into the lakes for about 100 years. 

There were news reporters on boats in Lake Erie showing the dead bodies of white and bloated fish on the surface of the water. At one point someone had stepped out of the small boat he was in and placed his foot on top of the water. It didn’t sink because there was so much yuck. 

But with efforts and legislation like the Clean Water Act, Lake Erie was cleaned. 

Maybe that’s why I am still optimistic because I saw how far we had gone off the Mother Nature trail and then how, when we all worked together, we repaired what we had done. 

The Administration today has a different view of the EPA than past Administrations, as they close all regional and national offices focused on environmental justice. (Basically environmental justice focuses on everyone getting protection from the EPA, regardless of their neighborhood cultural or economic makeup.)

Announcing the “greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin shared plans in “Unleashing American Energy” including: Reconsideration of regulations on power plants (Clean Power Plan 2.0), reconsideration of regulations throttling the oil and gas industry (OOOb/c), reconsideration of Mercury and Air Toxics Standards that improperly targeted coal-fired power plants (MATS), reconsideration of mandatory greenhouse gas reporting program that imposed significant costs on the American energy supply (GHG Reporting Program) … and on and on and … well, you get the picture. 

This is definitely the pendulum swinging way back … like to before 1970 – but I do have hope that it will swing back; I just hope it’s in time. 

The temperatures will be below normal for next week. Average temperatures are about 74 degrees F this time of year. Today’s highs are expected to only reach 59 degrees, 61 on Friday and then a little bit of a warm up over the weekend with Saturday’s high about 72 degrees, Sunday and Monday about 73 and then on Tuesdayback down to 71. 

There is a deep marine layer that could bring some moisture and the slight chance of a thunderstorm on Thursday night and Friday.