Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 22, 1991 TAG: 9104220165
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH MACY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
To get them to realize, as Nelson recalled Sunday at Roanoke's Wasena Park, that "no other issue is more relevant to the human condition than the status of our natural resources."
Twenty-one years later, the cause has been rekindled and the message is the same.
Former Sen. Nelson, now a counselor to The Wilderness Society and the featured speaker of Roanoke's Earth Day festivities, told an enthusiastic crowd that three things must happen in order for industrial nations to switch from being environmental consumers to environmental conservationists:
A coalition of nations must be formed to address environmental issues politically and economically;
Today's youth and future generations must be brought up to be conservationists; and
The United States must insist on vigorous environmental leadership from the president.
"Ironically, what may be the most important issue of them all is barely noted, and yet it is the key - and that is the absence of a pervasive conservation ethic," Nelson said, calling for governments to initiate nationwide environmental programs in every school.
And with the decline of communism, Nelson noted that the time is right for the United Nations to form a coalition specifically geared toward the reduction of military arms, "with part of the annual savings being allocated to husbanding the ecosystem of our planet.
"If we had to put half as much energy into demilitarizing . . . we will have set the course for a better world," he said.
Despite rain-threatening clouds and blustery winds, the Earth Day event drew a steady crowd. Bands played rock, folk and ethnic music before and after the speeches.
Children played environment-oriented games and watched a play called "The Peace Dragon," performed by a youth group of the Unitarian Universalist Church. Trees were planted in the park, and others were given to attendees for planting at home.
And food and clothing vendors sold natural-food items, jewelry and tie-dye art.
The Explore Project made an appearance, too, with a booth on the grounds and a personal endorsement by Nelson, a longtime friend of the Lewis and Clark Environmental Education Center's director, Rupert Cutler. Nelson also agreed Sunday to become a member of the Lewis and Clark center's advisory board, as Explore tries to align itself with the popular environmental movement.
Explore also brought in Native American Dan "Standing Otter" Abbott. Dressed in full Indian regalia, he was surrounded by children who wanted to get a close-up look at his fox-skin headpiece and hear him talk about ancient Native-American practices.
"Native Americans were the original caretakers of the Earth," he said, explaining his appearance at Earth Day. "This newfound popularity of the environmental movement, it's nothing new - it's just a regression back to an earlier time."
Regardless of when the movement started, it was obvious the Earth was front and center in people's minds Sunday. Clean Valley Council director Ellen Aiken summed it up when she talked about the importance of recycling, conserving energy in the home, donating money to environmental organizations, and writing politicians.
"All these things add up," Aiken said. "It's up to us to effect change in others . . . and in ourselves, and to educate future generations to develop these habits naturally."
by CNB