Public Comment

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the first Earth Day. How ironic that this spring marks a big decrease in carbon emissions, due not to a great switch to renewable energy and energy efficiency, but to the global pandemic’s effect on reduced air traffic and other transportation. 

Well, as a friend of mine once said, “they should have named this planet ‘Irony’.” 

I’ve been banging the “Save the Earth” drum for 50 years and as a baby boomer, I had millions of contemporaries who marked the day. It was one of the general themes among the Woodstock Nation…save the planet, save the whales, wear tie-dye and buy organic at the co-op. 

Those early years were a time of great environmental progress. The 70s saw enactment of the U.S.’s most significant environmental legislation—the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)—passed with bipartisan Congressional support and signed by Republican President Richard Nixon. 

Of course, one hoped then that the movement would continue to grow. But progress reversed when President Reagan took office in 1980. With moves that symbolized his Administration’s attitudes, Reagan removed President Jimmy Carter’s solar panels from the White House roof and appointed James Watt as Secretary of the Interior, still considered to be the country’s most anti-environment Interior secretary ever. 

Under Reagan, after an initial recession, the 80s became a decade of economic growth when the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased to 3.6% compared to 2.7% during the previous eight years. Released in 1987, the movie Wall Street— with its mantra “Greed is good”—summarized the one percent’s attitude. 

Since then the rich have gotten richer and the U.S. middle class has eroded. And what has happened to the environmental movement? It’s facing some daunting odds. Yes, there’s been a great increase in implementation of renewable energy, now clearly more cost-effective than fossil-fuel generated energy. But the accompanying graph, as of 2017, doesn’t yet show any leveling of energy use. 

Though bluer skies have been reported worldwide this spring, there is no victory in what is widely acknowledged to be a temporary result, just the sadness and worry to see so many affected so quickly and dramatically by a catastrophe of inexpressible breadth. But perhaps the effort to flatten the pandemic’s curve can also teach us to flatten the curve of carbon emissions. Perhaps the emphasis on staying home, and the time to enjoy the beauty of spring with family allows us to hit the “pause” button and reconsider our priorities. Perhaps we can then infect one another with a virus of greater consciousness and hope. Is there still room for hope? It was the only thing left at the bottom of Pandora’s box. There is always room for hope. The new normal that follows this pandemic could include an awareness of the health of our planet. 

It is my hope that our pause will allow a rejuvenation for the action required to confront climate change. The time available to avert climate catastrophe is limited and experiencing one calamity might persuade us to avert another one. 

Janet Bridgers has worked for decades on many different environmental issues. For more information, visit www.earthalert.org