Beyond Earth Day: It's Time for Iowa to Face the MusicCityview - Des Moines
By Carolyn Szczepanski
When the first Earth Day erupted, rivers were burning and citizens were suffocating in a country infected with oppressive pollution. On April 22, 1970, a massive protest descended on the nation's capitol, with 20 million Americans around the country demanding the government do something to turn back the tide of rampant environmental destruction. A grassroots uprising years in the making, the inaugural Earth Day was heralded as a pivotal advance for the fledgling environmental movement and a key factor in motivating apathetic politicians to finally enact fundamental environmental protections, including the Clean Air and Clean Water acts.
But, like a fiery teen whose convictions have been compromised by middle age, Earth Day has gone soft. Now, the impassioned protests have been replaced by sugar-coated, tie dye carnivals sponsored by the latest company seeking to boost sales by green washing its corporate image. The urgent fervor has dissolved into G-rated gatherings, marked, not by collective demands for action, but hollow slogans and absentminded petition signing. Like Valentine's Day, the previously political event has been corrupted by consumerism and cliches, and, just as cupid has become a bearer of empty sentiment, in many ways Earth Day undermines the urgency of serious environmental problems by making everyone feel they're saving the environment if they simply recycle their pop bottles.
So, in the face of the shiny-happy holiday, consider this your reality check. In an effort to rescue a moment of reflection from the 35th anniversary of the memorable protest, we set out to determine just how complicit Iowans are in the global assault on Mother Earth, asking the academics, activists and agency officials leading their respective fields "where do we stand?" And, although the issues are complex, it is abundantly clear that the state of Iowa could stand to take far better care of its often-abused or entirely neglected natural resources.
Even in the areas in which Iowa is clearly excelling - recycling and renewable energy, for instance - it's generally no thanks to the state's policymakers. While other states, even in the agriculture-saturated Midwest, are making strides in reigning in environmental threats, Iowa lets animal producers run hog wild, condones regulators that blatantly flaunt federal clean water rules, robs environmental funding sources with impunity and apathetically allows the very concept of natural habitat to teeter on the brink of extinction. So, by all means, strike up the jam band. But, when it comes to the decline of Iowa's natural resources, it's time to face the music.
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