Denis Hayes, who coordinated the first event in 1970, denounces fossil fuel companies that use the event to get positive publicity
Photograph: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images
Speaking to the Guardian, Hayes acknowledged that many companies now use Earth Day as an opportunity for greenwashing, but added that the movement has also encouraged companies to change. “[Earth Day] is abused rather frequently. Of course, it’s particularly upsetting to me when it’s an event that I’ve had something to do with. I take some solace in the fact that I think relatively few people anywhere are motivated to accept the sentiment behind ‘Earth Day at Exxon’. It just doesn’t pass the giggle test,” he said.
“In 1970, we were focusing on the fact that schoolchildren were not allowed to go outside for recess because the air was too filthy, that streams that people swam and fished in were no longer accessible because they were laced with poison, and we were spraying everything with pesticides. These were important but more local issues.
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