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During the early 1960s, while serving as
Governor of Wisconsin, Nelson began devoting
a great deal of his time to lobbying Congress
and the White House to pay more attention
to environmental issues. In September 1963
he persuaded President John F. Kennedy to
undertake a five-day, 11-state speaking
tour, focusing on the environment. Despite
Nelson’s success in getting the ear
of President Kennedy, however, he was unable
to drum up much political support or media
coverage for conservation.
Searching for a way to put the environment
in the spotlight, Nelson had an epiphany
while on a speaking tour in the summer of
1969: He could borrow tactics used by the
student demonstrators of the day--who were
busy organizing large “teach-ins”
at campuses around the country to protest
the Viet Nam War--for his own cause, the
environment. A few months later Nelson,
who by then had moved from the Governor’s
mansion to the Senate floor, announced that
the first Earth Day would be held across
the country the following April, and began
making preparations out of his Washington,
DC offices.
Within a few months, the idea gained momentum
and Nelson hired Harvard Law student Denis
Hayes and a team of impassioned young people--which
later evolved into the non-profit Earth
Day Network--to coordinate hundreds of events
planned in local communities, schools and
universities around the country. The hard
work paid off, and some 20 million Americans
participating in related events that first
Earth Day, April 22, 1970.
Thanks to Nelson and other organizers, the
environment had been put on the map as an
issue important to many Americans. Within
four years, Congress passed several landmark
environmental laws--the National Environmental
Policy Act, the Clean Water Act and the
Endangered Species Act--in response to public
demand for cleaner lands and safer air and
water. Also in response, President Nixon
created the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to oversee clean-ups and enforce the
new laws. Indeed, the birth of Earth Day
signaled the dawn of a new era of environmental
responsibility within the U.S. and beyond.
Since the first Earth Day in 1970, millions
of people have been coming together every
April 22 to hold rallies and festivals,
coordinate beach and park clean-ups, and
educate their fellow citizens about the
importance of safeguarding the environment.
Schools, from elementary through college,
have especially taken on Earth Day as a
traditional time of year to focus students’
attention on conservation and ecology.
CONTACTS:
Earth Day Network, www.earthday.net
EPA Earth Day Program, www.epa.gov/earthday/
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Dear EarthTalk:
What are some of the trends in the construction
industry that
seek to improve the environmental impacts
of buildings?
—
Bianca Hoffman, Bridgeport, CT
Builders, architects, environmental organizations
and forward-thinking governments around
the world are working on a host of innovative
ideas aimed at greening the built environment--from
giant factories and public spaces to housing
developments and single-family homes.
On Earth Day last April, syndicated columnist
Joan Lowy took the opportunity to describe
what she thought were the most important
environmental trends. Number two on her
list (just behind cleaner cars) was green
building. Lowy pointed out that over 200
new commercial and public structures built
in the U.S. in the last five years have
met or exceeded rigorous standards for energy
efficiency, use of recycled materials, water
conservation and other practices set by
the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC),
an association of building industry leaders
that works to promote environmentally responsible
building.
“That’s 217 million square feet,
or five percent of the construction of commercial
buildings over the past five years,”
she wrote, also noting that almost 10 percent
of new homes in some of the top housing
markets now meet Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Energy Star standards for energy
efficiency. (To earn an Energy Star, a house
must be 30 percent more energy-efficient
than required by regulation.)
Some specific green building features include:
water-saving “low-flow” plumbing
systems; “living” filter systems
that use plants and bacteria to break down
waste; solar energy; recycled and non-toxic
materials (from paints to siding to insulation);
efficient integration of structures into
natural landscapes; and innovative uses
of plants, including for roofing, to reduce
water runoff, air pollution--and energy
bills.
Green builders look to stack up to the LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) rating system, a science-based approach
developed by USGBC that emphasizes sustainable
site development, water and energy efficiency,
wise materials selection and indoor environmental
quality. In San Jose, California, any new
construction over 10,000 square feet must
be LEED certified. Mike Foster, Green Coordinator
for San Jose, reports that many of the city’s
public projects now incorporate green features
such as carpeting with recycled content
or paints with low levels of volatile organic
compounds (VOCs).
A number of other cities, including San
Francisco, Boston, Seattle and Scottsdale,
Arizona, are also leading the way in requiring
that new public buildings be green. In San
Francisco, the greening of such landmarks
as the Academy of Sciences Building and
the Golden Gate Music Concourse have helped
show what can be done. And Boulder, Colorado
has enacted a Green Points Building Program,
which requires builders to include certain
sustainable elements based on the structure’s
size.
“I think what has happened is that
we've changed people’s attitudes,”
says Taryn Holowka, a spokesperson for the
USGBC. “They realize that a green
building doesn't have to look like a space
ship, it doesn't have to cost more, and
in the long run it actually saves money.”
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