The Go Green Debate

What is Earth Day?

Earth Day, April 22, marks the anniversary of the modern environmental movement in 1970. It is an annual celebration of the environment and intended to inspire awareness of & appreciation for the Earth’s environment.

Earth Day was initiated in 1970 by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, who started a “teach-in” to protest the government’s environmental ignorance. This eventually led to legislation including the Environmental Policy Act (1969), the Clean Air Act (1970), the Clean Water Act (1977) and fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.

AP reports that officials of eighteen states are suing the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in an attempt to force it to comply with a Supreme Court ruling last April that found the EPA has authority to regulate vehicle emission.

In the petition the plaintiffs said last April’s 5-4 ruling required the EPA to decide whether to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

The EPA has done nothing.

The petition asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to require the EPA to act within 60 days.

The plaintiffs in the latest court action include Coakley and attorneys general from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia, plus representatives of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the cities of New York and Baltimore, and several environmental organizations.