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A Little Despair on Earth Day
Industry Matters Newsletter 5 May 2022
I am standing in an auto parts store on Earth Day. Staring at the windshield wiper display triggered a sense of despair.
I’ve experienced every Earth Day. I remember the excitement of the first Earth Day in 1970. I remember the feel of protest. There was anger. It had been less than a year since the Cuyahoga River fire captured the nation’s attention. Same for the Santa Barbara oil spill. I clearly remember the focus on visible pollution. Concern over pesticides was there too. Joni Mitchell implored farmers to put away DDT, to leave the birds and bees. The ecology flag seemed like it was everywhere. There was a real sense of us versus them—the “them” being polluters, litterers, and those spraying pesticides. Progress, some clearly a direct result of the outpouring on the first Earth Day, was made. We now have an Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. We didn’t in 1970. The visible pollution that was a big inspiration for the first Earth Day is largely a thing of the past. Environmental regulations and societal expectations stopped many of the worst offenses.
I was a budding chemist in 1980, still in college. Earth Day was far more subdued. There was a sense of accomplishment. DDT was gone. Banned. Same with lead in gasoline. There was significant legislation passed since the first Earth Day, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act, sometimes called the Ocean Dumping Act. We were driving more efficient vehicles. Things were better and still improving. It seemed like we had the “thems” on the run.
I’m now seeing my 53rd Earth Day. The language and symbolism around Earth Day have changed. I haven’t seen an ecology flag flying in years. Sustainability and circularity were not topics on the first Earth Day. Neither was climate change. Litter was a topic, but not microplastics. On this Earth Day, climate change is a major topic. Visible pollution is no longer the focus. It is the invisible pollution that now captures attention—the greenhouse gases we all emit. We are asked not to drive, not to use single use plastic. This Earth Day is far more about personal behaviors and choices. It is no longer us versus them, it is us versus us.
The underlying motivation remains unchanged: to protect the
planet, to be better stewards of its resources. To conserve, not waste. Buying
auto parts on Earth Day, I confronted a case that makes little sense to me, a
case where a clearly more material efficient, more sustainable choice was taken
away from me. It is a case where we did it better on the first Earth Day.