It has been 50 years today since the first Earth Day; are environmental conditions better now?
Sherry and I were co-chairs of the UCI Environmental Teach-In Committee that organized and facilitated the first Earth Day, on the UCI campus. We were graduate students; I was in the Population and Environmental Biology program, working on a Ph.D. that I didn't complete (I got as far as being advanced to Candidacy, then got derailed by the anti-war movement - more on that another time).
I still have a copy of the UCI Earth Day program listing the events and participants in multiple panel discussions, presentations, break-out sessions and speeches. Here is a list of those events:
Panels:
Land Use and Development: Functions and Priorities
Water
Air
Workshop Discussion Groups:
Population
Newport Bay
Pollution Strategy
What Is A Scenic Coast Freeway?
Films:
Project Survival
The San Joaquin Marsh - A Recent Acquisition of the University of California
- keynote address: Environment and the Total Society. Congressman George Brown, Jr.
- Nature Sensitivity Awareness Sessions
- exhibits
As evidenced above, the big environmental concerns of the day were air and water quality, urban development, and human population growth. A few local issues were also included. We did not imagine then that 50 years in the future we would be facing the global crisis of human-induced climate change; or did we? Looking back, we were envisioning the future, but without the terminology of the 21st century. After all, what were the outcomes of unbridled air and water pollution, urban growth and development, and human population growth? An altered climate, among other results. Did we imagine a half-century ago that human activities could actually alter the climate in ways that would change everything? Some forward-thinkers must have; most of us probably not.
Earth Day solidified the burgeoning environmental movement of the 1960's and moved it forward. Great strides were made in environmental regulation, and the United States became a global leader in environmental protection. A new industry developed, the environmental industry, in which I built a career as a consulting ecologist. Air and water quality improved overall, greater amounts of fish and wildlife habitat were protected and conserved, the Endangered Species Act placed protections on plant and animal species that were at risk of disappearing. And yet...and yet.
Here we are, in the year 2020, witnessing dramatic climatic events wreak havoc around the world; events linked to the enormous levels of carbon compound emissions to the atmosphere from human activity. It is ironic that fossil fuels, formed from the remains of plants over millions of years, have become the thing that now threatens human populations. These fuels are the foundation of most human societies on Earth; every aspect of modern societies is intimately connected to fossil fuels.
Could human societies have developed and modernized without fossil fuels? I don't see how. Could we have recognized earlier that our fossil fuel use trajectory was going to result in climate change, and find ways to avoid the crisis in which we now find ourselves? Yes, most certainly; in fact, there have been scientists and others ringing alarm bells for many decades. So why didn't we heed these warnings?
It is truly amazing that, even as the reality of climate change became widely recognized over the past decade or more, we (human societies) have found new ways to extract even more fossil fuels from underground and under sea, and actually increase the carbon loading to the atmosphere. Yes, the efforts to reduce emissions have grown considerably, with governments signing climate accords, setting goals for reduced emissions, the energy sector rapidly increasing the proportion of wind, solar and other alternative energy sources. And yet...and yet.
Turn on the television and watch for awhile How many advertisements do you see for electric vehicles (EVs)? How many do you see for large SUV's and big pickup trucks? People who notice things have noted that there were 3 ads for EVs during the last Super Bowl, an amazing thing. True; however, the ads were for the EV Hummer, EV Porsche sports car, and the EV Audi - all very expensive big or fast vehicles (and they were advertised that way). When will we see ads for regular vehicles that are electric, with the point of the ad being that it is good for the environment and public health, and besides, why do you need a very fast car or monster pickup truck? Yes, I've seen a few of those ads, but they are rare.
I am encouraged by the new environmentalism of the younger generations. Our environmentalism in the 1970's was, to a great extent, born out of understanding new concepts, based on the fairly young science of ecology, and a growing realization that human societies were doing things that would not turn out well. The environmentalism of youth in the year 2020 is born more out of anger and fear; anger at those in charge who let it get to this point (capitalists, politicians, etc.), and fear of a future world so dreadful that many young people do not want to bring children into it. One result of this new environmentalism is policy proposals such as the Green New Deal, and that is positive.
I've saved Trump for the end of this post. Trump, in my view, is a symptom, not the problem. He and his enablers have wrought great havoc on the world, including the environment. These selfish people deny science, deny climate change, scale back environmental regulation, maximize profit for industry, including fossil fuel companies, and do everything that is counter-productive for reducing environmental risk. They will be directly responsible for many millions of deaths, and a future of more human suffering. They are, in my view, criminals. And yet...and yet.
The Earth is not in peril, and climate change is not an existential threat to the human species. The planet will be just fine, thank you, no matter what. And humans will be around for a long time. The climate will be different, resulting in changes to human activities, as well as plant and animal species. Human populations will move around based on rising sea levels and changing weather patterns. These will very likely be huge disruptions of human societies, and future wars based on access to water or farmland; but the human species will adapt and survive. These words are not meant to be comforting; they are not, especially for my grandchildren and the generations after theirs. We humans have made choices throughout our history, and we always have to live with the results.
And so, to the question: are environmental conditions better today than 50 years ago? Was/is Earth Day meaningful? I look up from my computer, sitting in our kitchen on day 43 of sheltering at home during the novel coronavirus pandemic of 2020. I am amazed that 50 years have passed - a half century!! - since we so optimistically planned and participated in thousands of teach-ins called Earth Day. I have to say that, in my humble opinion, the present and future impacts of global climate change vastly outweigh many, if not most of the environmental advances made over the past 50 years. To a large degree, things like air and water quality and urban development can be worked on at more local or regional scales with measurable results, and many good things have been accomplished. But climate change is in a different ball park, the entire planet, and the solutions have to be at a planetary scale. Time will tell, and there is almost no time left before we pass the tipping points (some think we are already beyond those). I am not very hopeful, but I'm trying to be.
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* The UCI campus was dedicated in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
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