A few true facts about Earth Day

Here’s a little piece that I wrote about Earth Day for another forum, but it didn’t end up there, so it ends up here:

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Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, a worldwide day of awareness founded by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson — who was also responsible for the inclusion of side effects disclosures on pharmaceutical drug labels. Other famous Gaylords in history include Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry, Chicago street gang The Almighty Gaylords and British poet Lord Byron. Allegedly.

In 1970, a Time Magazine article mentioned a right-leaning faction who took note that Earth Day happened to fall on Lenin’s birthday, warning that the entire event was a Communist trick, and that a Mississippi delegate from the Daughters of the American Revolution declared “Subversive elements plan to make American children live in an environment that is good for them.” The group has not yet officially endorsed KFC’s new Double Down chicken sandwich.

Since we celebrated our first Earth Day in 1970, the average daily newspaper circulation has dropped from 62.1 million to its current level of 30.4 million, which is bad news for newspapermen but good news for the kind of people who add “Please consider the environment before printing this email” to the end of every message -– people like Steve Jobs, the Apple founder whose company sold 300,000 new iPads on the first day the touchscreen computer became available. While critics debate how the iPad will affect the publishing industry, it’s hard to argue the eco-friendliness of a completely paper-free device –- until you consider just how many greenbacks you’re laying down to achieve early adopter status.

And while taking pains to insist they’re not picking on Apple, Greenpeace recently issued a report that claims growth of internet computing could come with a huge jump in greenhouse gas emissions due to the rise of cloud computing devices like the iPad, which may contribute to a much larger carbon footprint than previously estimated. Now, if all this Earth Day news is getting you down, maybe it’s time you asked your doctor about what else happened in 1970. If he’s not too busy playing with his iPad, he might tell you that pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly began work that year which lead to the discovery of the antidepressant Fluoxetine, more commonly known by it’s trade name, Prozac. And while you’re considering the drug’s side effects, which include fever, nausea and vomiting, don’t forget whom you’ve got to thank for this full disclosure – the honorable Wisconsin Senator and Earth Day founder, Gaylord Nelson.