Happy Earth Day, everyone! Today is the 55th anniversary of the home-grown American celebration. It's not a federal holiday, but an important milestone nonetheless.
It began during the height of the Vietnam War. In 1970, Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, an early skeptic of the costly U.S. military effort in Southeast Asia, launched "a national teach-in on the environment." The new crusade channeled some of the morally inspired rhetoric of the civil rights movement and a popular tactic of the antiwar movement, which was then in full swing on college campuses across the country.
Earth Day was an immediate hit, fulfilling a goal millions of Americans had come to desire on their own. The path was blazed by an honor roll of conservation-minded worthies: Gifford Pinchot, Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, Margaret Murie, Rachel Carson – and, notably, Lady Bird Johnson.
The legislation she championed, and which was signed into law by her husband on Oct. 22, 1965, was officially titled "The Highway Beautification Act." On Capitol Hill, it was simply known as "Lady Bird's Bill."
Earth Day went global soon after it started and was an occasion commemorated by none other than Pope Francis. Ten years ago today, the pontiff expressed hopes that "the relationship between man and nature not be driven by greed."
My favorite papal observation about Mother Nature was delivered two months earlier, on Jan. 18, 2015, during his meeting with university students in the Philippines. "As stewards of God's creation, we are called to make the Earth a beautiful garden for the human family," Francis said. "When we destroy our forests, ravage our soil, and pollute our seas, we betray that noble calling."
