Why is Earth Day celebrated?
Earth Day is celebrated to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Who was the founder of Earth Day? Former U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson was the founder of Earth Day. He proposed the first environmental protest which was modeled after the Vietnam war protest events called “teach-in’s”. How did Earth Day begin? Senator Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat from Wisconsin was the pioneer of the environmental movement. When elected to the Senate Senator Nelson was determined to wake up the federal government to the fact that the earth was at risk. He was inspired by the anti-Vietnam War ‘teach-ins’ that were taking place on college campuses across the United States. Senator Nelson envisioned helping to organize a large scale environmental demonstration that would serve to thrust environmental issues onto the national agenda. Nelson announced the Earth Day concept at a conference in Seattle in the fall of 1969 and invited the entire nation to get involved
