{"id":672,"date":"2025-04-07T22:06:05","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T22:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/peacebuilding\/?p=672"},"modified":"2026-01-09T16:09:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T16:09:45","slug":"seeking-renewal-of-the-environmental-movement-this-spring-9-actions-to-take-for-earth-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/peacebuilding\/seeking-renewal-of-the-environmental-movement-this-spring-9-actions-to-take-for-earth-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeking Renewal of the Environmental Movement this Spring: 9 Actions to take for Earth Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Bright
Photo by Jan Fischer Bachman<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Blog post by Marcia Sowles, Legal Advisor for the Office of Peacebuilding and Policy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fifty-five years ago this month, we celebrated the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, representing a major early step for the environmental movement. On that day more than 20 million Americans participated in events bringing attention to the need to protect our environment. That same year, Congress established the Environmental Protection Agency and enacted the Clean Air Act and National Environmental Policy Act, which required federal agencies to assess the environmental impact of their proposed actions.  Other acts followed, such as the Endangered Species Act in 1973, the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (\u201cSuperfund\u201d) in 1980, and Oil Pollution Act in 1990.  In addition, recognizing that protecting the environment is an international concern, in 2016 the United States signed the Paris Agreement which seeks to curb global warming by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Over the last fifty-five years, the United States has also recognized that the federal government not only has a critical role in preventing pollution and environmental damage, but it can also play a positive role in improving the environment.  For example, in the last few years, federal grants from the Department of Transportation supported clean energy-saving electric buses and other forms of mass transit.  Grants from other federal agencies helped urban areas by planting trees and community gardens, retrofitting low-income homes to make them more energy-efficient and funding solar energy programs.  Other grants helped rural areas by supporting soil conservation and clean-energy projects.  In short, although there have been bumps in the road in which federal funding for environmental programs declined, overall progress had been made since the first Earth Day.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, the new Administration has taken a series of actions which reverse this progress. The acts include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n