http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wium/local-wium-965776.mp3
Macomb, IL – It's now a year since BP fouled the Gulf of Mexico, and last week's Earth Day seemed to be avoiding such unpleasantness to stress what individuals can do, not our government.
Decades ago, "Keep America Beautiful" was a national campaign - until US Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970 decided to help Americans get serious about taking care of our world beyond litterbugs and launched the first Earth Day.
Today, the public is mostly pointed to recycling. That's admirable, but worrying about paper and glass seems, well, quaint while climate change threatens life on the planet. Recycling is significant, but it's a matter of degree. Reusing plastic while tax dollars subsidize oil and other fossil fuels, which contribute to pollution and worse, seems to be less than the prime priority.
Earth Day 2011 involved greater numbers of people than ever. That's good. What's better is that people are starting to realize that we must adopt sustainable actions and programs in order to survive, and progress is happening with electric cars, wind farms and solar power.
What's bad is too many organizers channeled efforts toward conservation and recycling rather than policies or legislation.
Earth Day has powerful connotations of taking responsibility for our planet, but that includes government and corporations as well as environmental activists and individual consumers. And placing recycling as the top action ignores reality.
The Society of Environmental Journalists reports, "Every US resident is at elevated risk of cancer from certain toxic substances in outdoor air, and about one-quarter of all residents are possibly at risk for non-cancer health effects, according to EPA's update of the National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA)."
Elsewhere, European Planning Studies just reported that cities worldwide aren't taking steps to protect residents from the likely consequences of climate change, meaning that unprepared population centers are very vulnerable to extreme weather events, rising sea levels and heat waves.
Groups such as Earthday.org and Earthday2011.org suggested that "one of the easiest ways to celebrate this Earth Day is to start by recycling year-around and showing children by our examples.
"Recycling is one of the few things we can do that contributes measurably to our planet's health on a daily basis," organizers said.
Fine; but all the church groups, Scout troops and Sierra Club chapters in the country can't have enough paper drives to offset a lack of responsible regulation protecting people and our habitat.
Even the Nature Conservancy, an outstanding organization that does great work, promoted "five easy actions" - Eat smart, eat local, eat sustainably, eat green, and eat out (in a "Picnic for the Planet").
Eat, eat, eat?
The first Earth Day was attended by 20 million Americans nationwide, setting a precedent for the rest of the world, eventually inspiring more than 140 nations to have their own Earth Days. By 1990, more than 200 million people participated in the event worldwide. This year, events range from modest efforts in a middle school near Pekin, Ill., to California's ambitious program called WorldFest 2011, which wants to stretch Earth Day into a part of our lifestyle all year.
Again, OK, but that seems too reminiscent of breast cancer fund raisers that emphasize treatments or cures, not prevention.
For their part, media seem to stress individual actions more than civic engagement. Recycling or raising kids to be aware of the environment is terrific except, alone, they seem to avoid controversy and to overlook the hard work required. Complex problems require complex solutions.
Being good stewards of Earth isn't simple, easy or quick. And some people just won't help unless they must.
As Albert Einstein said, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
Bill Knight is a freelance writer who teaches at Western Illinois University. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of WIU or Tri States Public Radio