Earth Day Events

1962 Sep Publication of Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring"
Silent Spring is a book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin in September 1962. The book is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement. The New ...
1963 Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act (P.L. 88-206 77, Stat. 401) established a program to help clean up dirty air and to maintain clean air. Congress extended its efforts to remedy and prevent air pollution...
1969 Jun 22 Cuyahoga River Catches Fire, Setting Off a Series of Pollution Control Legislation
On June 22, 1969, the Cuyahoga River caught on fire. This dramatic event, which got international news coverage, is still a reminder of the need to protect the environment. But this blot ...
1970 Founding of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
The NRDC was co-founded by John Adams in 1970. The organization lobbies Congress and other public officials for a public policy that promotes conservation of the natural and built environ...
1970 Apr 22 First Earth Day
Earth Day was first observed on April 22, 1970, when an estimated 20 million people nationwide attended the inaugural event. Senator Gaylord Nelson promoted Earth Day, calling upon stude...
1970 Dec 2 Creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency
On July 9, 1970, President Nixon transmitted Reorganization Plan No. 3 to the United States Congress by executive order, creating the EPA as a single, independent agency from a number of ...
1970 Dec 31 Passage of the Clean Air Act Extension of 1970, Leading to the Adoption of Catalytic Converters
The Clean Air Act Extension of 1970 (84 Stat. 1676, Public Law 91-604) is a United States federal law that requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and enforce regula...
1972 Jun 14 United States DDT Ban Takes Effect
An end to the continued domestic usage of the pesticide was decreed on June 14, 1972, when William D. Ruckelshaus, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, issued an order fi...
1972 Oct 18 Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972 (Clean Water Act)
The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases to wa...
1974 Dec 16 Safe Drinking Water Act
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is the principal federal law in the United States that ensures safe drinking water for the public. Pursuant to the act, the Environmental Protection Age...
1979 Mar 28
4:00AM
 Three Mile Island Accident at Nuclear Generating Station
The Three Mile Island accident was a partial core meltdown in Unit 2 (a pressurized water reactor manufactured by Babcock & Wilcox) of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in ...
1980 Dec 11 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Commonly Called Superfund, is Signed into Law
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), a United States federal law designed to clean up abandoned haz...
1986 Apr 26
1:23AM
 Chernobyl Disaster - Nuclear Reactor Explodes, Causing Worst Nuclear Disaster in History
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (then part of the Soviet Union...
1989 Jan 1 Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer Enters into Force
The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer) is an international treaty designed to protect...
1989 Mar 24
12:04AM
 Exxon Valdez Strikes Bligh Reef, Causing Disastrous Oil Spill at Sea
The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in the Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 23, 1989. It is considered one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters ever to occur...
1990 Nov 5 Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 Goes Into Effect, Expanding the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a publicly available database containing information on toxic chemical releases and other waste management activities in the United States. The da...
1991 Oct 24
to 1991 Oct 27
 First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit
The Environmental Justice Movement (EJM) is a confluence of social and environmental movements which deals with Environmental Justice In the early 1980s, environmental justice emerged as...
1992 Jun 17 Signing of First Partnerships Between Manufacturers and US EPA to Implement Energy Star Program
Energy Star is an international standard for energy efficient consumer products. It was first created as a United States government program by the Clinton Administration in 1992, but Aust...
1996 Jan 1 US Clean Air Act is Amended to Ban the Sale of Leaded Fuel for Use in On-Road Vehicles
The mixture known as gasoline, when used in high compression internal combustion engines, has a tendency to autoignite (detonation) causing a damaging "engine knocking" (also called "ping...
1996 Mar 6 US EPA Requires Home Buyers and Renters to be Informed of Lead-Based Paint Hazards
On March 6, 1996, EPA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued the lead-based paint disclosure rule which ensures that families receive information to protect them...
1997 Dec 11 Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gases is agreed on
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC), aimed at combating global warming. The UNFCCC is an international environme...
1999 Nov 30 Mass Protests Mar the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 in Seattle
Protest activity activity surrounding the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, which was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negotiations, occurred on November 30, 1999 (ni...
2000 Apr 22 Earth Day 2000
The time is long overdue to begin constructing energy systems based on indigenous solar, wind, biofuels, and other sustainable sources. In rich countries and poor, Earth Day 2000 will agg...
2001 May 23 Signing of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international environmental treaty that aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants (...
2003 Jun 1 Construction Begins on the Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam (simplified Chinese: 长江三峡大坝; traditional Chinese: 長江三峽大壩; pinyin: Chángjiāng Sānxiá Dàbà) is a hydroelectric river dam that spans the Yangtze River in the town of San...
2006 Feb 16 Study from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Determines Greenland's Glaciers Melting Twice as Fast as Previously Estimated
Satellite observations indicate that Greenland's glaciers have been dumping ice into the Atlantic Ocean at a rate that's doubled over the past five years, researchers reported here on Thu...
2006 May 24 An Inconvenient Truth Hits Theaters
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film, directed by Davis Guggenheim, about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a...
2007 Jun 28 Bald Eagle Removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
The bald eagle was on the brink of extinction in the continental United States (while flourishing in much of Alaska and Canada) late in the 20th century, but now has a stable population a...
2007 Jul 7 Live Earth 2007
The first series of benefit concerts were held on July 7, 2007. The concerts brought together more than 150 musical acts in eleven locations around the world which were broadcast to a mas...
2007 Dec 10 Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
The Norwegian Nobel Committee's announcement on the 12th of October of this year's Peace Prize award opened with the following words: "The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the N...
2009 Sep 22 President Obama Addresses Clinton Global Initiative
U.S. President Barack Obama is calling on leaders from all sorts of backgrounds to come together to tackle worldwide problems. Mr. Obama says it is time for a new spirit of partnership. ...
2009 Oct 24 Activists Rally Around the World to Mark 'Magic' Climate Change Number
Activists held events around the world Saturday to mark the number they say the world needs to reach to prevent disastrous climate change: 350. The number represents 350 parts per mill...
2009 Dec 7 Day One of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
Reporting from Copenhagen - After a long day of dire warnings and impassioned pleas about the world's changing climate, hundreds of Danes and visitors from around the globe bundled themse...
2009 Dec 7 EPA Declares Greenhouse Gases a Danger to Public Health
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as expected, on Monday declared greenhouse gases a danger to public health, a decision that could soon lead to new emissions regulations for busi...
2009 Dec 8 Day Two of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
The second day of the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen for a 12-day conference kicked off on a high note with encouraging words from UNFCCC Executive S...
2009 Dec 9 Day Three of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
The U.S. and China exchanged barbs Wednesday at the Copenhagen climate talks, underscoring the abiding suspicion between the world's two largest carbon polluters about the sincerity of th...
2009 Dec 10 Day Four of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
While negotiations continue over the formation of an international emissions treaty in Copenhagen (COP15), the run up to the conference helped develop a rash of announcements regarding em...
2009 Dec 11 Day Five of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
A first draft text presented to the Copenhagen Climate on Friday sets a minimum goal of halving world emissions by 2050. Earlier in the week, emerging nations said that such a target ...
2009 Dec 12 Day Six of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
The protests didn’t prove to be too much of a distraction, however, as lead Chinese climate negotiator Su Wei said during a press briefing on Saturday (Day 6) that he wasn’t aware of them...
2009 Dec 13 Day Seven of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
Held December 12 and 13 at Forum Copenhagen, the Bright Green Expo featured exhibits by more than 170 companies from 19 countries showing their cutting-edge products. "There is no need to...
2009 Dec 14 Day Eight of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
Poor countries ended their temporary boycott of the UN climate change summit on Monday, receiving assurances that rich nations were not conspiring against them to reduce their commitments...
2009 Dec 15 Day Nine of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
The gesture seemed lighthearted, but the message was not: Progress has been halting in international climate negotiations here. Yvo de Boer, the top United Nations climate official her...
2009 Dec 16 Day Ten of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
Danish police today arrested 230 people at various points around Copenhagen, where world leaders and officials are meeting for UN climate talks. The news came as thousands of protester...
2009 Dec 17 Day Eleven of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Copenhagen on Thursday just as climate negotiations had “reached a critical junction” and talks were “difficult”, as she said at a press b...
2009 Dec 18 Day Twelve of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
Wen delivered a speech titled "Build Consensus and Strengthen Cooperation to Advance the Historical Process of Combating Climate Change" at the opening session of the leaders' meeting of ...