Earth Day is Everyday

While Earth Day did not originate in North Dakota or Minnesota, it’s importance to our Nation and environment can not be underestimated, according to Dr. Thomas (Tom) Mortenson.

Speaking at an Environmental Conference on Earth Day sponsored by the Tampa International Business Council, former Becker County Tom Mortenson, PhD reminded those attending that concern for the environment isn’t something new.

Earth Day founder Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin gave a speech in Denver, Colo., on the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, and stated that, “Earth Day is dramatic evidence of a broad new national concern that cuts across generations and ideologies.”

According to Mortenson, President Regan reminded us that the real effort began “75 years ago with President Teddy Roosevelt and foresters John Muir and Gifford Pinchot, our nation made a clear commitment to conservation.”

In the words of Pope Francis, who urged us to take care of the environment throughout his pontificate, “Respect for the environment means more than simply using cleaner products or recycling what we use. These are important aspects, but not enough.” (Meeting with Young People, Santo Tomás University, Manila, Jan. 18, 2015)

“Few concerns facing America and the world today are more compelling than the quality of our physical environment. All that we do, all that we hope to achieve for ourselves, all that we hope to create for our children will go for nothing if the world itself is made unfit to live in”, President Nixon, Proclamation 4042, April 1971.

“Earth Day provides an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the environment” President Ronald Reagan, April 1983. The challenge for all of us is not to make Earth Day a one day a year event, but rather something we do together as a way of life, Mortenson said.

Mortenson was a leading advocate of Earth Day in Racine, Wisconsin starting on the very first celebration in 1970, and continues to believe that by working together we can make a difference.