Air Date: Week of April 23, 2010

We asked the question – after 40 Years, is Earth Day Still Relevant? -- listeners provide the answer.

Transcript

CURWOOD: In our show for the 40th Earth Day last week, we asked you listeners whether you thought we still should remember and celebrate it. Well, you weighed in, and didn’t want to pension Earth Day off just yet!

SANDER: I definitely think Earth Day still has a purpose in environmental issues.

JENNINGS: Well, I think that Earth Day is still relevant after all these years. It has an increasingly important role as the consequences of global warming mount. Earth Day keeps these issues in the forefront where they belong, serves as a rallying point, provides unlimited teaching moments, and gives everyone avenues for contribution, participation and action.

ALBANESE: I want to thank you for presenting such a wonderful program. It has reinvigorated my stance on Earth Day. Probably, maybe, we’ll do something a little bit special on Earth Day.

BIGGERS: 40 years after the U.S. failed to sign Kyoto, after a less than satisfactory Copenhagen conference, there’s still a need for Earth Day. Especially for young people, the Earth is our mother, and when she hurts, we all will hurt worse. If young people don’t grab this raging bull by the horns, they may not have an Earth Day worth breathing 40 years from now.

SIPP: Since we only have one planet to work with, having an Earth Day is the right thing to do.

CURWOOD: The views of Nelda Sander of Stillwater, Oklahoma, Pamela Jennings from Grand Rapids Michigan, Gerard Albanese from Kingston Arkansas, Randy Biggers of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Pete Sipp from Asheville, North Carolina. Thanks to all of you who called or wrote.

[MUSIC The Crusaders “Whispering Pines” from Southern Comfort (Verve Music Group 1974)]

YOUNG: Coming up – we travel to the rainforest of Borneo, where indigenous communities wonder what UN plans to preserve forests mean for them. Keep listening to Living on Earth!