WHY DO WE CELEBRATE ‘EARTH DAY’?
Every year on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.
In the United States before 1970, a company could release toxic black cloud smoke into the air and other waste into the water, which was legal. In spring 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day to force this issue onto the national agenda. Twenty million Americans demonstrated in different U.S. cities, and it worked! In December 1970, Congress authorized the creation of a new federal agency to tackle environmental issues, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
This year’s theme of World Earth Day is towards tripling the goal of clean electricity by 2030, with the slogan ‘Our Power Our Planet’. The demand from the people and communities is that they come together and shift to renewable energy to make this possible.
In today’s time, environmental challenges like climate change, deforestation, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss are the biggest challenges we are facing. To counter these issues government and private organisations are working.
Government projects and schemes like the National Solar Mission, which promotes the use of solar energy across the country, and the International Solar Alliance an international initiatives taken by the Indian government that promote solar energy and reduce the dependency on fossil fuel. PM KUSUM SCHEME supports farmers in installing solar pumps.
India aims for 500GW of non-fossil fuel energy by 2030, and it aims to become a carbon-neutral country by 2070.
As individuals, we can contribute by living a sustainable lifestyle, reducing plastic use, conserving energy and water, and supporting environmental causes.
Every year, Earth Day comes with a reminder that protecting this planet is our responsibility, and there is no planet B that we know. With the support of the Government, Private organisations, and individuals, we can shift towards cleaner energy and a sustainable future.
Written by Sudev
Edited by Rupam Shukla
