Wayne Mallinger sends along this picture post card to all my readers.
In 1970, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, believing that few U.S. leaders were paying attention to public concern about the environment, announced a series of teach-ins across the country on April 22. Twenty million people came to these first "Earth Day" celebrations.
The national spotlight on environmental issues worked. President Richard Nixon soon signed a series of unprecedented laws establishing national limits for air and water pollutants, creating the Environmental Protection Agency and requiring environmental impact assessments before federally funded projects could begin. The Endangered Species Act followed in 1973.
Locally, EarthFest will be celebrated today at Pellissippi State Community College’s Hardin Valley campus.