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The first Earth Day is the most famous little-known event in modern American history. Because we still pay ritual homage to the planet every April 22, everyone knows something about Earth Day. Some people may also know that Earth Day 1970 made the environmental movement a major force in American political life. But no one has told the whole story before.     The story of the first Earth Day is inspiring: it had a power, a freshness, and a seriousness of purpose that are difficult to imagine today. Earth Day 1970 created an entire green generation. Thousands of Earth Day organizers and participants decided to devote their lives to the environmental cause. Earth Day 1970 helped to build a lasting eco-infrastructure—lobbying organizations, environmental beats at newspapers, environmental-studies programs, ecology sections in bookstores, community ecology centers.



About the Author

Adam Rome

I write mostly about the history of the environmental movement. Before I became a history professor, I was a journalist for almost eight years, and I hope that my writing brings the past to life. My book about the first Earth Day was featured in The New Yorker. I've written op-eds about Earth Day for Wired, The Huffington Post, and other outlets. I've also had the chance to talk about Earth Day in communities across the country -- including Fargo, North Dakota, where my talk got marquee billing at the city's beautiful downtown theater! My first book is a prize-winning history of how Americans began to question the environmental costs of sprawl. Recently, I co-edited and contributed to a book that offers historical perspective on one of the biggest questions of our time: Can capitalism ever be green? I'm writing now about the history of efforts to make business more sustainable.



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