If you thought Earth Day occurred in April you have been celebrating Oil Day.
Tomorrow the Earth balances between summer and winter in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. At that moment, one determined not by us but by the Earth herself, a bell is rung at the United Nations to commemorate the occasion. At the same moment bells ring across the world. The focus is not just on the environment but on "peace, justice and the care of Earth." .
The idea had been a long time in the making. Founder John McConnell began in the early 60s. The question for them was how to establish, "an Earth Day where people all over the world would consider how they could work together for peace, justice and the care of Earth. He proposed Earth Day in September 1969 to Peter Tamaras, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, San Francisco, California. He proposed Earth Day for the Spring Equinox, which has meaning in cultures all over the world. The idea was accepted by the city of San Francisco.
On March 20, 1971, Earth Day was celebrated at the United Nations in New York City. United Nations Secretary-General U Thant addressed the gathering."
So how did the day in April hijack the name? Good question.
Cast your mind back. In 1968 America and the world agreed that the environment needed to be protected. Howard H. Baker, Jr. Republican from Tennessee, championed the environment; it was a bipartisan issue back then. Then all Americans believed that breathing clean air and leaving a clean environment was something every decent person would want. Then, they did.
The 'Oil' Earth Day, which takes place in April, was instituted using the same name to inject disinformation directly from those funded by Petroleum Companies. It was a cheap operation from their perspective. Go look at the list of those who fund the April event. The story tells itself through the sources that flow with money like oil.
That generation of political operatives are old now; many are retiring. Dennis Hays was a pimply kid when he was recruited to inject the conduits through which disinformation would flow from then until today.. That career choice has made him a millionaire and enormously improved his dating life. The people Hayes displaced included long time environmental activists, such s McConnell and Margaret Mead.
This sleight of hand, combined with the buying up of as many patents for solar energy as possible by petroleum companies most likely sent the then still learning Karl Rove into orgasmic spasms. You can imagine him taking notes feverishly.
This year, as you watch the effects of global warming, caused not by those scary greenhouse gases but by the easily traced particulates of carbon and sulfur that come directly from the burning of petroleum produced, remember that the past is full of lies. To navigate into the future we need the truth, and nothing less.