We have compiled a list of some powerful interviews in one of our “play lists” that can be found on the Gallery page using the Theme search for Earth Day. Or, click on this word -“Earth Day” and you will find links to some inspiring and informative videos. You may also click on any name in our blogs to go directly to that video. Please do not be limited by watching only these videos, other important themes can be found by using our search boxes on the Gallery Page.

Here are a few questions to ponder about Earth Day:

How did Earth Day arise and how did it change our world after 1970? Former

Republican and House Representative Pete McCloskey, was actively involved in creating the first Earth Day in Washington, D.C.:

“Young people getting involved in the political process has always been a kind of a leadership in rebellion, whether it was women rights, human rights or environmental rights; it’s always started with the idealism of young people.”

Why is Earth Day observed on only one day each year? Larry Merculieff an Aleut Elder:

“You know, it’s not like we reserve certain days or times to express our spirituality, it is threaded throughout all of our cultures with everything that we do. It didn’t matter what it was, it’s just there all the time.”

How does today’s environmental movement relate to other movements such as civil rights, gay rights, women rights, and the occupy movement? Attorney Vera Marcus:

“In some way, all of these movements to me are related. Fundamentally, the environmental movement is the Mother Movement because it concerns the very air that we breathe, the sun that shines.”

How does one person make a difference? Why is one tree so important? Listen to Andy Lipkis:

“What does a tree do? We asked the U.S. Forest Service Research Lab to calculate the water capture volume in the root zone and the canopy of a tree, of a big oak tree. That’s the state’s tree. So it turns out that a huge oak, 100-foot diameter canopy that’s been dropping leaves and twigs for hundreds of years making mulch, correlates this amazing space underneath. It’s a sponge. It’s a tank. It’s the water treatment plant. It’s how water has moved through the ecosystem since the earth was born; you know, there’s no new water.”

What can we learn about ecology and activism? Listen to Randy Hayes:

“Ecology doesn’t study an individual this or that but it studies the relationship, the ecology of relationships of a system. And so, if your activism is meant to promote systemic change, the first simple question is what system are you talking about changing?”

What can we learn about the environment and public health? Virologist, and professor Charlie Calisher; attorney and toxic waste exposer, Ted Smith; and professor at UC San Francisco School of Nursing, tobacco industry warrior Ruth Malone share their thoughts on environmental health issues. Powerful.

How did a physician change the fate of the small coastal town of Bolinas in the west Marin Headlands near San Francisco California? Dr. Marty Griffin’s story of how he took action to create the west Marin that we enjoy:

“I knew that the key to saving west Marin was to stop freeways and they still had another freeway up their sleeve from San Rafael, over the hills to Fairfax and to Olema and then up the coast. My strategy was just to quietly buy anything we could in the path of progress and I saw that the key parcel on the whole east side of Tomalas Bay was Clifford Conley’s 10-acre parcel that you call Cypress Grove that stuck out into the bay.”

Thank you for joining us. There are many ways you can celebrate Earth Day every day. Here are a few ideas:

• Contribute your time, or money to support a project within your community or support a favorite environmental organization;
• Choose to learn more about our natural environment through local citizen programs such as the Environmental Forum of Marin, or by pursuing an educational degree in the sciences, math, social sciences, geography, health, law, and many other fields of study, including technology;
• Vote! Understand our democratic process and participate;
• In spending/investing your money, consider who and what it supports and whether their ethics match yours, decide how you will spend your money for environmental good.
• Arrange a bequest to an environmental organization as your personal legacy;
• Most of all be curious, go outside and share the wonder of our world with a child.

March 8th

is International Woman’s Day, a day to reflect and celebrate the accomplishments of women in our world. A progressive world demands equality for women on a global scale.

Many of our Forces of Nature are women who have succeeded in traditionally male occupations, such as Mary Lou Reed, who was in the Idaho state legislature for nearly 40 years. Some have courageously lobbied for important environmental legislation such as Vera Marcus and Patricia Schifferle. Many of these women have forged their own paths, including Sylvia McLaughlin founder of Save the Bay; Isabel Wade founder of Friends of the Urban Forest; Mary T. Crowley, founder of Ocean Voyages; and Joana McIntyre Varawa who founded Save the Whales. Many women are educators or consultants such as Joan Maloof, Nona Dennis, Phyllis Faber, and Susie O’Keeffe, women who generously share their knowledge and information with others. These are but a few examples of the many outstanding women we feature in our collection of videos.

The Earth Day video of Pete McCloskey and the Moving into the Environmental Field video with Greg Thomas, speak about how we need to move closer to global women’s equality for a more secure and healthy world. We have a range of wonderful interviews, and you will honor our Forces of Nature by taking some time to watch and share their ideas.

In the 1960s, Sylvia McLaughlin was a self-described Berkeley housewife distressed at what was happening to her town. Today, more than 50 years later, she is honored with the Jefferson Award for her contribution to saving San Francisco Bay from massive fill and development.

In 1961, when Save The Bay was founded by McLaughlin, Kay Kerr, and Esther Gulick, the city of Berkeley had plans to double its size by filling in the Bay. Other cities around the Bay had their own plans to pave over shorelines. The three women mobilized and stopped the project in Berkeley, marking the birth of a modern environmental movement in the San Francisco Bay Area. The women recruited thousands of supporters to stop other bay fill projects, forced cities to close the burning garbage dumps ringing the

In 1965, the fledgling organization scored a huge win by successfully lobbying for the passage of the McAteer-Petris Act, a moratorium against filling the Bay. Later California established The Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) to regulate shoreline development and ensure public access. BCDC became a permanent agency in 1969 and continues today. It was the first coastal zone management agency and the model for most others in the world.

“It is an honor to receive this award,” said McLaughlin, who recently celebrated her 96^th birthday. “We started Save The Bay because we were inspired both by the vision of what the Bay could be and the reality of what was happening to it. Even today, the Bay is never saved – it is always in the process of being saved. That’s why it so important for the current generation to continue to care for the Bay.”

Thanks, Sylvia!