FAITH LAPIDUS: The planning for a national protest on the environment soon began to receive national media attention. The Environmental Teach-In group began to educate people about how to take action locally and spread the news of the event. The group stated that the national day for the environment would be "more than a day of fruitless talking." And, they created a new name for their national teach-in event: Earth Day.

BOB DOUGHTY: The hard work of this grassroots effort resulted in the first Earth Day on April twenty-second, nineteen seventy. An estimated twenty million people took part in this event. In New York City, Fifth Avenue was closed to traffic as people marched through the streets. At demonstrations in Atlanta, Georgia, and Miami, Florida people protested to demand a cleaner environment.

Gaylord Nelson later said that "Earth Day worked because of the immediate response at the grassroots level." He said that the event organized itself.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Lawmakers in Washington seemed to have understood the public demand for a cleaner environment. In December of nineteen seventy, a new federal agency began its work.

The Environmental Protection Agency aimed to bring together federal research, supervision, and enforcement of environmental matters. By nineteen seventy-four several other environmental laws had been signed. These include the Clean Water Act, the Pesticide Control Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

(MUSIC)

BOB DOUGHTY: Earth Day is now a worldwide event. One of its official organizers in the United States is a Washington based nonprofit group called Earth Day Network. Susan Bass is the vice president of programs and operations at Earth Day Network. She says that Earth Day is still very much about activism and fighting for the environment on a local level.

SUSAN BASS: "That's the wonderful thing about Earth Day is that it really provides a platform, an opportunity for grassroots organizations and community organizations to really focus on what's happening in their neighborhoods and their homes in their communities, in their businesses and to focus on the priority problems and to engage people maybe for the first time in taking environmental action."

FAITH LAPIDUS: Earth Day Network works on environmental programs around the world.

SUSAN BASS: "We are active now in one hundred ninety countries and it's estimated that one billion people participate in Earth Day events around the globe now."

FAITH LAPIDUS: One event in Rabat, Morocco. will celebrate the country's new Charter for Environment and Sustainable Development. Its aim is to guide the country's environmental policies and future laws to protect natural resources and ensure safe economic development.

Susan Bass says that this year's Earth Day will be a busy one in the United States.

SUSAN BASS: "We're going to be active all over the United States; we have events across the country from Santa Monica to New York, to the heartland of the country."

BOB DOUGHTY: Susan Bass tells about an important event in Washington.

SUSAN BASS: "And then our flagship event will be on April twenty-fifth. It will be the Climate Rally where we'll be inviting people from all walks of life to join us on the National Mall to call on ou."

BOB DOUGHTY: The goal of this event is to demand that lawmakers pass new legislation on climate change and clean energy in two thousand ten. The event is expected to include performances by musicians including Sting, John Legend, and the Roots.

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