It's the 49th Earth Day, and the daughter of the founder of the day says there's likely to be an announcement detailing a new effort for the day's 50th celebration.
The first Earth Day celebrations took place in two thousand colleges and universities, roughly ten thousand primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of communities across the United States on April 22, 1970. Former Wisconsin Governor and U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson was a leader to bring the day into being to raise awareness of the environment.
In an interview recently with WXPR, daughter Tia Nelson says two former political rivals are joining an effort to make next year's event memorable...
"...What I'm most excited about this Earth Day is former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson and former Democratic Senator Russ Feingold are joining together as honorary co-chairs of this year's Earth Day Conference that UW Nelson Institute holds annually. They're the honorary co-chairs and will together announce a bipartisan initiative for the Year of the Environment in promotion of a series of events leading up to the 50th anniversary...."
Tia Nelson says she's pleased Thompson and Feingold have agreed to join efforts and call for bipartisan action to protect the environment. Earth Day is now observed in 192 countries by more than a billion people, making it the largest secular celebration in the world.
You can hear a longer interview with Tia Nelson by going to the WXPR website and looking for WXPR Weekend Edition.