It was in 1970 that Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin established "Earth Day" as a teaching opportunity for budding environmentalists. Seems like a long time ago—I was all of six years old and to me, "green" was something Kermit the Frog sang about being.
We've come a long way since then.
Earth Day is now a national celebration of environmentalism and conservation. A lot of what we in EERE do is directly supporting the ideals and aspirations of Earth Day, and you can see growing support from major corporations, media and academia. It's pretty exciting, and definitely an exciting time to be in the energy field.
We owe that, in large part, to you. The American public has "gotten the idea" and now embraces these principles in growing numbers. But we can't let it stop there. We all need to think about how we can do more, use energy more efficiently, and do our part to help preserve our planet for the next generation. Believe me, as a new dad, that last bit is on my mind a LOT.
So give it some thought, okay? We're here to help so stay in touch and let's celebrate Earth Day every day. Visit energy.gov and the Earth Day page on EERE to find more resources and ways that you can save and celebrate Earth Day.
Let us know in the comments how you plan to celebrate Earth Day!
Drew Bittner is a former Presidential Management Intern (PMI) and the Web content manager for EERE's corporate Web pages.
