Disputes over date and founder cause rifts
Is Earth Day really April 22? Or should it rightly be celebrated March 20, 21 or 22, in accordance with the spring equinox and the true cycles of the Earth and nature?
And who is really responsible for the event, designed to promote environmental action and awareness around the globe?
Research on Earth Day history reveals some antagonism among the peaceful pioneers of the holiday.
"The problem of when and what is Earth Day reflects fundamental differences in society today," wrote Earth Day pioneer John McConnell, believed by some to be the founder of Earth Day, in a paper titled "When Is Earth Day: What Difference Does It Make?" He added, "Confusion about the date of Earth Day and its purpose has hindered support for the environment."
McConnell, born in Davis City, Iowa, the son of an independent evangelist, has built his life around relieving human suffering and seeking solutions to crucial problems facing civilization.
He supported observance of the first Earth Day as March 21, 1970, the day of the vernal equinox and the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Through his efforts, the United Nations still celebrates the March date as Earth Day. The first celebration called Earth Day was observed by the mayor and city of San Francisco after a request by McConnell, now the 89-year-old president of the Earth Society.
But a series of similarly minded events followed that muddled the timing of the event:
In January 1970 the Environmental Teach-In, a group of students planning a one-time protest against pollution for April 22, also decided to call their event Earth Day.
In 1971, former U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin announced an Earth Week for the third week of April.
In 1972, at the Stockholm Conference, Japan obtained support for a resolution calling for World Environment Day be observed on June 5, the day the conference began.
All this creates confusion and a lack of unity for the greater effort of environmental healing, say opponents to the April 22 Earth Day.
There was considerable activity before McConnell's designated first Earth Day. Rather than McConnell, Nelson is listed on a number of environment-friendly Web sites as the founder of Earth Day. According to him, the commemoration evolved over a period of seven years, starting in 1962.
"For several years, it had been troubling me that the state of our environment was simply a nonissue in the politics of the country. . . .," he wrote in a statement included in one Web site. "Finally, in November 1962, an idea occurred to me that was, I thought, a virtual cinch to put the environment into the political 'limelight' once and for all."
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