Oh Yeah, It's Earth Day, Too

So I'll do a little multitasking whilst watching the big cup tie, and do some Earth Day-related blogging.

First, a little history on Earth Day; via WikiPedia:

In January 1970, the Environmental Teach-In decided to call their one-off event held on April 22nd, Earth Day. The day's success led to it becoming a regular event. Senator Gaylord Nelson, an environmental activist in the U.S. Senate, took a leading role in organizing the celebration, to demonstrate popular political support for an environmental agenda.

[...]

The "holiday" proved extremely popular in the United States. The first Earth Day, in 1970, had participants and celebrants in two thousand colleges and universities, roughly ten thousand primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of communities across the U.S. Senator Nelson directly credited the first Earth Day with persuading U.S. politicians that environmental legislation had a substantial, lasting constituency. In 1971 Senator Gaylord Nelson announced an 'Earth Week' — for the third week of April — as a yearly event.

Many important laws were passed by the Congress in the wake of the 1970 Earth Day, including the Clean Air Act, laws to protect drinking water, wild lands and the ocean. The EPA was created within three years of the first Earth Day.

[Oy... that donkey of a forward for Chelsea, Didier Drogba, just missed an easy chance to put the Blues ahead.]


Thirty-six years on, and things feel much more subdued. Here's how the President will be celebrating (hat tip to AmericaBlog)

After a bike ride near his Napa Valley resort Saturday morning, Bush planned to visit the California Fuel Cell Partnership in West Sacramento for a tour and speech on his energy plan.
[...]
Bush used his weekly radio address Saturday to promote the idea. "These fuel cells have the potential to revolutionize the way we power our cars by giving us vehicles that will emit no pollution and will be more efficient than gas-powered cars," he said.

I'm all for exploring and promoting the idea of the possibility of a hydrogen economy, but this is the one message that President Bush decided to focus on for Earth Day. And it seems to me that he certainly could say much more about alternatives that are more within our grasp today--such as biofuels and plug-in hybrid technology. And, oh yeah, conservation and use of public transport. And about those rising gas prices:

"I know the folks here are suffering at the gas pump," Bush told an audience Friday in San Jose. "Rising gasoline prices is like taking a — is like a tax, particularly on the working people and the small business people."

[Fooookin' 'ell... Norwegian international John Arnet Riise just threaded the needle through the wall on a free kick just outside the box, and put Liverpool up 1-0.]

Daily Kos diarist Malacandra takes issue with that assertion:

High gas prices are a little like your tax policy, Mr. President, insofar as they fall especially hard on the poor... but there the comparison ends.

Because the extra dollars that I and my fellow American citizens pay at the pump will never be used to:

* Repair a broken down school building
* Buy armor for American soldiers overseas
* Monitor our air and water purity
* Pay a policeman's salary
* Fix a pothole
* Build a bridge
* Maintain a levee

And the list continues.

And mind you, the President's bike ride has nothing to do with celebrating transportation alternatives:

Bush's bike ride Saturday was no Earth Day stunt. The president rides on most weekend mornings, but made the special detour to overnight in St. Helena just to get in a picturesque ride through wine country. He had no official events there.

"I can't wait," Bush told his San Jose audience. "I'll be plugged into an iPod."

[Whewwwww... Lanky Liverpudlian Peter Crouch just crashed into Chelsea's keeper, Cudicini, after a horrendous header back from defender John Terry; luckily, Terry was able to clear, but both are on the ground and writhing... time for the bucket to come out from the sidelines]