World Wildlife Fund

Thursday, April 22, marks the 40^th anniversary of the first Earth Day.  That watershed moment in 1970 elevated the issue of environmental protection and was soon followed by the passage of the Clean Air Act and the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

While significant progress has been made in cleaning up the pollution that plagued our communities, waterways and wilderness areas in the 1970s, our planet is today under threat from a different kind of pollution.  Carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases are causing rapid changes in Earth’s climate that are already resulting in costly and dangerous impacts.  And these impacts will only worsen unless action is taken quickly to curb this pollution by switching to a clean energy economy. 

So for this milestone Earth Day, WWF and other organizations are urging people to contact their Senators and ask them to pass clean energy and climate legislation this year.  Visit WWF’s climate campaign website for more information on contacting your Senators and taking additional action.  For volunteer opportunities in your community, visit www.EarthDay.org.  

In raising our collective voices 40 years ago, we helped usher in a series of major environmental victories.  Today, the stakes are even higher and our voices even more urgent.