Gaylord Nelson, Father of Earth Day - MINDS@UW Home

Introduction
Is there anything more vital in the long view of history than the
proper protection and conservation of our fresh water lakes, rivers,
and streams, our wilderness, the soils and the forests, the air we
breathe, the bugs and birds and animals and the habitat in which
they live? I think not.
Gaylord Anton Nelson
In the late 1800s a European physicist named Svante Arrhenius first
measured what is now known as the Greenhouse Effect. 1 By 1970, the
Smithsonian Institution reported that particulate matter in the atmosphere had
reduced the flow of sunlight to the Earth‟s surface by 16 percent since 1907. 2 Of
course, at the time, the Smithsonian scientists did not understand the full scope
or impact of what they were reporting, but even then they concluded that
humankind‟s agency had a material effect on the natural environment and that
the consequences were of serious concern.
On April 19, 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson and Representative Paul
McCloskey appeared on CBS‟s “Face the Nation.” Nelson and McCloskey were
the co-Chairs of Environmental Teach-In, Incorporated, and they were
interviewed about the details of upcoming nationwide environmental
demonstrations. The goal of the demonstrations, as described by Senator
Nelson, was to educate Americans about environmental issues and to “…get the
1 Bill McKibben, The End of Nature (New York: Anchor Books, 1989), 9.
2 Gaylord Nelson, interview by George Herman, James Ridgeway, and David
Culhane, Face the Nation, April 19, 1970. Gaylord Nelson Papers 1954-2005,
Box 1, Folio 6. Wisconsin State Historical Society, McIntyre Library, University of
Wisconsin – Eau Claire. Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
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