Earth month brings environmental awareness

Vanessa Villanueva, Reporter

April has been considered Earth Month in the environmental community for decades now. This celebration first originated on a smaller scale in the year 1970 when environmental activists gathered in response to an oil spill that occurred in Santa Barbara, CA.  Of course incidents such as oil spills had been protested before, however this protest in particular sparked a great amount of attention for the cause. Once established, Earth Day further encouraged the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and led to Congress passing several more environmental measures.

In the year 1990, Earth Day was celebrated on an international scale, with roughly 200 million people involved from 141 countries and now continues as an annual event in more than 193 countries. People across nations work together during the month of April to emphasize the significance in spreading information regarding the state of our environment. Our very own Environmental club hosts a cleanup among other earth day events, meaning that becoming involved in such activities is not out of reach. This year’s Earth month is especially important as climate marches have been organized for April 22nd and 29th in response to the climate science denial being spread by political parties as well as the threat that Trump’s administration is to legislation meant to protect our environment.

The continuous celebration of Earth Day demonstrates the impact that we can have in society when we make our voices heard for such an important cause. We have the ability to be far more conscious about our impact on the environment in the year 2017 so let us continue making progress towards a safer, more sustainable future. Each and every one of our actions matter so do not hesitate to get involved in such earth day events as nothing should ever stop us from standing up for what is right.