Cross-posted at WeArePowershift.org
On April 22, 1970, students participated in an massive action declared by Gaylord Nelson, a senator from Wisconsin. Motivated by the recent Santa Barbara oil spill, teach-ins were held at college and university campus across the United States to protest environmental degradation. “Earth Day,” as the event was known, later became a prominent, annual avenue for citizens to discuss important issues affecting both their local communities and the wider world.
Years later, college campuses in Virginia were yet again alive with environmentalism on Earth Day. Virginia Tech’s Environmental Coalition held an Earth Week, a long series of events, starting the week before and concluding on Earth Day. Activities such as a Skype session with Bill McKibben, a campus-wide Field Day, a CCAN training on campus organizing, and a rally to protect the university’s Stadium Woods were all held.
At Radford University, I spoke on Dominion-Virginia Power’s activities at an Earth Day festival on April 19, where student groups engaged with the university community on issues ranging from sustainability to mountain top removal. Paul Fink, the event’s organizer and a Radford student, told me that his on-campus environmental club feels very strongly about Earth Day, because there are a multitude of environmental issues, like Dominion’s actions towards the climate, that the public needs to be made aware of.
At the College of William and Mary, students in the SEAC environmental organization distributed information on the proposed ODEC coal plant and on Bank of America’s funding of “dirty energy.” SEAC will also hold an action at Bank of America’s Williamsburg location, which I will blog about tomorrow.
Many other Earth Day events were held throughout the state, including at the University of Mary Washington, where the film “King Corn” was shown by students to a large audience, and at the University of Virginia.
Judging from the amount and variety of Earth Day events this month, and the passion present at all, I’d say that Senator Gaylord Nelson would be very pleased with his legacy!
