Spangdahlem AB celebrates Earth Day Published April 19, 2007 By Lee Anne Moeller 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, GERMANY -- -- April 22, 2007 marks the 37th anniversary of the largest secular, nonreligious holiday in the world -- Earth Day. The first Earth Days were celebrated in 1970. Yes, that is right, Earth Days, there are two Earth Days celebrated each year. The first official Earth Day was celebrated March 21, 1970, and intended to be a global holiday to celebrate the wonder of life on Earth. It was initiated by the city of San Francisco at the behest of a man named John McConnell, the president of World Equality, Inc., now Earth Society. Mr. McConnell chose the day of the vernal, or spring, equinox as Earth Day because of its significance worldwide. On equinox, spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn begins in the Southern Hemisphere, and night and day are in equal length anywhere on Earth. The United Nations adopted the vernal equinox as Earth Day in 1971 when U.N. Secretary-General U. Thant signed a proclamation. At the moment of the equinox, the U.N. traditionally observes the day by ringing the Japanese Peace Bell, a bell cast from coins collected by people from 60 different countries and donated by Japan to the U.N. in 1954. The second official Earth Day was celebrated April 22, 1970. It was initiated by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson as a one-time Environmental Teach-in to bring attention to widespread environmental degradation. Senator Nelson was an environmental activist in the U.S. Senate. He assumed a leading role in organizing the celebration to demonstrate popular political support for an environmental agenda and modeled it after the highly effective Vietnam War protests. Twenty million people from 2,000 colleges and universities, 10,000 primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of communities across the US celebrated that first "national" Earth Day by participating in peaceful demonstrations in favor of environmental reform. The popularity of the event helped to make it an annual observance. In fact, in 1971 Senator Nelson expanded Earth Day into Earth Week, the third week of April. Senator Nelson succeeded in his goal of bringing the environment to the forefront of the political agenda. His Earth Day is commonly credited with creating environmentalism and giving the nation's environmental movement a much needed boost. Here are just a few environmental milestones since April 22, 1970. The Clean Water Act of 1972 began limiting the amount of pollutants flowing into US lakes, rivers, and streams. Since then, the amount of surface water suitable for recreational use in the United States has almost doubled. The Clean Air Act Amendments put into effect in 1977 strengthened air quality standards and continue to protect human and environmental health to this day. In 1980, Congress created Superfund when it enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Superfund is the U.S. government's program to clean up the nation's uncontrolled hazardous waste sites, and polluters are made responsible for clean up. In 1996, the bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list, reflecting its recovery since the 1972 ban of the pesticide DDT and the 1973 passage of the Endangered Species Act. Today, Earth Day is celebrated by 500 million people and 175 nations all over the world. It is not only an avenue to bring attention to environmental issues, it is also a tool to increase environmental awareness and educate all people, young and old. Spangdahlem Air Base is observing its Earth Week from May 7-11 with the following activities: * May 7 at noon: Earth Week 5K Fun Run/Walk at Skelton Memorial Fitness Center. * May 9 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Earth Week Information Fair at Bitburg Middle School. The fair will consist of informational booths containing posters, displays, live animal exhibits and demonstrations. Displays will include topics such as energy use and conservation, climate change, recycling, threatened and endangered species, and biodegradable products. Live animal exhibits will include birds, bees and goats. Demonstrations will include solar power, water quality and water treatment. * May 11 to be determined: Earth Week and Arbor Day Tree Planting and Landscaping in the village of Spangdahlem. The CES Environmental Flight encourages everyone to observe Earth Day on Sunday and to participate in the Earth Week activities.