Earth Day's 40th Year

Forty years ago today, April 22, 1970, was the very first Earth Day and the beginnings of the environmental movement. Spurred in part by the fact that the then filthy Cuyahoga River caught fire up in Cleveland, it gave birth to important legislation like the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and many other pieces of environmental legislation that went a long way toward cleaning up a lot of pollution. Here in Kent, I participated on that day in the very first Cuyahoga River clean up, where a bunch of us gathered on the banks of that river that divides Kent east from west, and cleaned up the banks of our beloved river. I've always been proud of having done that, because it, in turn, gave birth to the parks that are now along the banks of the river, Franklin Mills Riveredge Park and Brady's Leap Park. My name isn't anywhere on a plaque commemorating those of us who worked that day to clean the river banks, but I know in my heart that I can sort of think of those parks as a part of my legacy to the City of Kent. It's a good feeling to remember what we did that day and the energy and passion we brought to the job of doing that. I have this vague memory of some of us starting an environmental club of some sort at Davey Junior High School. Maybe I'm not remembering this correctly, but I do remember us passing out a lot of buttons at school promoting Earth Day and environmentalism. I've still got quite a few somewhere, probably in the attic at my mom's house. At least I hope that they are still there, because it would be fun to see them again and remember how we felt back then about the cause of saving the earth.

Now that Earth Day is middle aged, 40 years old, we tend to be a bit lax in our thinking about environmental issues. We cleaned up the air, cleaned up the water, created parks and did a lot of other visible things we can tangibly see and touch now, but what we cannot see are the looming threats that are still an issue, like invasive species, global warming, clean renewable energy and others. In fact, where clean renewable energy is concerned, we really blew it in 1973 after the Arab oil embargo. We had a chance then to really push it to the forefront, but it died on the vine, and a few years ago when we watched in horror as the price of gas spiraled upward to $4.25 a gallon, we had that chance again, but we jumped the gun by assuming that corn based ethanol was going to be our golden ticket to clean renewable energy. Well, that turned into a big bust. Now the efforts must be made anew to create clean burning cars that can run on renewable sources, to push wind and solar energy to power our homes and to use water wisely, because that is going to be our next big battle over scarcer resources. The thirsty West has been looking hungrily at the Great Lakes as a water source, and during last summer's drought, the parched South looked northward at the Great Lakes, too. We can't afford to use it as a water source for the entire United States. I wonder why we can't find a way to desalinate ocean water to make drinking water for the coastal areas. There is plenty of ocean water and if the seas are rising due to the melting of polar ice caps, then finding a way to use that extra water to convert into drinking water for thirsty parts of the world would make perfect sense. I'm no scientist and I'm sure that there are reasons we haven't built desalination plants all up and down our coastlines to quench the thirsts of coastal residents. But it seems to me that the wise thing to do would be to find a way to do it in a cost effective manner so that water doesn't become the next war over diminishing resources.

The US has a very long way to go with regard to research, development and implementation of green technology. With this painful and deep recession we're currently in, it seems to me that the wise thing to do would be to muster all of our resources in this country toward moving into green energy and technology. It would create plenty of good high paying jobs that could not be outsourced or off shored. Sure, it would require a higher education than just high school, but plenty of good manufacturing jobs in factories that don't require college degrees could be created so that our blue collar workforce could get back to work again. The age of the auto being the economic backbone of this country is over. It's time for us to wake up to the sobering fact that the age of smokestack industries is past. It's over. It's history. This is the 21st century and this country needs to act like it and start moving forward, not looking back nostalgically at the past when smokestack industries ruled. Green technology is the new path we must take in order to be strong again. Old style manufacturing jobs are a thing of the past and people need to get over it and move on. It's a new day and age and it calls for an overhaul of the way we as a country think and act. The sooner we retool our way of thinking of our lives and the way we live them, the sooner we can return to some semblance of prosperity and lift ourselves out of this deepening recession that sees us becoming more and more dependent on loans from Asian countries that before long are going to own us, lock, stock and barrel. There is a way out, and it's called Green Technology. Going Green is our ticket out of this mess. It's not going to happen overnight, but the sooner we start moving that way, the better. Happy Earth Day to one and all. And remember, every day is Earth Day. Care for Mother Earth. After all, she's the only home we have.