40th Anniversary Earth Day: a Call to Action on Clean Energy and Climate Bill

WASHINGTON (April 20, 2010) -- April 22 is the 40th Anniversary Earth Day. This year's commemoration will be a national call to action on the single most important environmental initiative of our time: comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation. NRDC experts are available to discuss this vital bill and how it can strengthen our economy, make our country more secure and strike a blow against the climate change that threatens us all.

 Following is a statement from Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council:

"The first Earth Day ushered in the dawn of the modern environmental movement in 1970, the same year NRDC was founded. We've got much to show for the past 40 years: protections for clean water, endangered species and air; hard-won victories over acid rain, hazardous waste, toxic chemicals and leaded gasoline; and important defenses against dozens of other environmental ills.

“Now we need to move forward on the most urgent environmental challenge of our time: curbing global climate change. We need comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation that will put Americans back to work, reduce our reliance on foreign oil and strike a blow against the climate change that threatens us all.

“The Senate is working on a bipartisan bill to do just that. We expect it to be unveiled next week. On this Earth Day we must insist, as a country, that our senators pass legislation that will reduce our carbon pollution, make our economy stronger and our country more secure. That's where we must go as a nation. That's what this Earth Day is all about.”