Talk:Earth Day

Dubious article throughout, never heard of "Earth Day"

Having seen the slogan on Google about "Earth Day"??, had a look on here to see what it was exactly. The intro states... Earth Day Network, a group that wishes to become the coordinator of Earth Day globally, asserts that "Earth Day is now observed on April 22 on virtually every country on Earth". Err i'm from the UK and ain't ever heard of such a day, infact.. zero mention on any news station on TV or radio, and i just looked at a rare isolated mention of it in a UK newspaper (a column inside the 35th page) which states "things to know about Earth Day" and only lists some things that are taking place in US. Now given that its unheard of here in the UK, and given that i see no other mention of any events/gatherings outside North America, to have its "observed on virtually every country" (stated by none other the "IMPARTIAL" Earth Day Network..lol) is just a tad dubious...just a tad. The organizers/spokespeople/those with vested interest of any event exaggerate to the hilt. Wikipedia is MEANT to be about impartiality and accuracy, this article is anything but.Bononsigna (talk) 02:02, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

I think:

"It is now observed in 175 countries, and coordinated by the nonprofit Earth Day Network, according to whom Earth Day is now 'the largest secular holiday in the world, celebrated by more than a half billion people every year.'[30] Environmental groups have sought to make Earth Day into a day of action which changes human behavior and provokes policy changes.[31]"

should be changed. From their website they state "More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.". From http://www.earthday.org/about-us which is very different to what is state in the article. There is probably something done in the UK it's just probably small. --77.103.61.2 (talk) 00:20, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

George Lois versus Julian Koenig

I notice there is some edit warring going on around this issue.

So what's the status? Does This American Life constitute a source valid enough to replace Lois with Koenig, or what? Jordan Bettis (talk) 16:55, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

Deleted the fact that Koenig had any involvement in the Earth Day discussion. It was more likely his ad partner. Really, the origin is unknown. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Iraglasstalk1 (talk • contribs) 19:05, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

Ira Einhorn

Why no mention at all of Ira Einhorn in the article? — Loadmaster (talk) 16:44, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Seconded. While some of a certain persuasion may doubt Ira's involvement in the murder he's accused of (based solely on a claim by Ira that the whole situation was a CIA frame-job), it is not only widely-accepted that Ira was involved in the creation of Earth Day in 1970, but it has been suggested that those who dispute this have motive not to include him in historical accounts. This Earth Day article would be more complete and more accurate if Ira's involvement was included somewhere. 71.36.27.113 (talk) 19:02, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Seriously, the lack of any information about Einhorn puzzles me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.16.180.16 (talk) 20:02, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

I added two very brief mentions of Ira Einhorn (one mentioning him in the larger context, and one mentioning him in context with other notable participants in the Philadelphia rally where he spoke) and they were edited out by Fat & Happy with a note that it was "unsourced". I'm adding them back in with a source. Wikiwriter80132 —Preceding undated comment added 03:43, 26 April 2011 (UTC).

Earth Day Anthem?

On what basis was this anthem section included today? There's no citation for it's established use beyond what appears to be a link to the blog of its creator. Lacking some external source demonstrating this 'anthem' is accepted as a common element of the Earth Day movement, I strongly advocate this subsection's removal.
K10wnstaz (talk) 17:15, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Who deleted my edit today?

I don't know how you can tell the story of "Earth Day" without acknowledging how massively in error the founders were in their basic understanding of the natural systems about which they pontificated with an air of such unimpeachable authority. I take it I have offended some of the "faithful", who've succeeded in locking me out of editing this propaganda piece for the time being.

Trust me. I am not going away.

I reprint my edit here.

Another criticism has focused on the exaggerated claims made by leading environmentalists during Earth Day ceremonies which the passage of time have shown to be untrue. Some of the more prominent examples from the very first Earth Day in 1970 include:

“Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.”

• George Wald, Harvard Biologist

“Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.”

• Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“By…[1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s.”

• Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“It is already too late to avoid mass starvation.”

• Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day

“Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions….By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.”

• Peter Gunter, professor, North Texas State University

“Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support…the following predictions: In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution…by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half….”

• Life Magazine, January 1970

“At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it’s only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable.”

• Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

“Air pollution…is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone.”

• Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate…that there won’t be any more crude oil. You’ll drive up to the pump and say, `Fill ‘er up, buddy,’ and he’ll say, `I am very sorry, there isn’t any.’”

• Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

“Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, believes that in 25 years, somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct.”

• Sen. Gaylord Nelson

“The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.”

• Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

Critics believe that the tendency of environmental activists to engage in scientifically unsupported claims to advance radical social agendas deprive the environmental movement of the credibility it needs to foster a more reasoned and less politicized consideration of environmental issues.

Lockforward (talk) 20:40, 22 April 2011 (UTC)Lockforward

I don't see any recent edits from you on this page (at least not within the past 500 edits). If you have a point of view to push however, we are unlikely to put in this edit. However, if this article truly is biased, we will rewrite it.Jasper Deng (talk) 20:44, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Just for the record, the original edit was here, with a typo corrected here, apparently both before User:Lockforward registered, then reverted here. While interesting, for Wikipedia purposes it would probably be considered original reserch and synthesis. Fat&Happy (talk) 21:00, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Also WP:NPOV.Jasper Deng (talk) 21:04, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

The list originated with Ron Bailey of Reason Magazine, and there was some discussion about it at that time of year in 2009 - this is in the archives. Billwilson5060 (talk) 09:31, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

Reason magazine "was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the Chicago Tribune.[1][2]" Csww22 (talk) 16:54, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Simply including quotes like that is undue weight. Several quotes alone does not an article section make. See WP:MOS.Jasper Deng (talk) 16:56, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia's NPOV policy states: "Editing from a neutral point of view (NPOV) means representing fairly, proportionately, and as far as possible without bias, all significant views that have been published by reliable sources. All Wikipedia articles and other encyclopedic content must be written from a neutral point of view. NPOV is a fundamental principle of Wikipedia and of other Wikimedia projects. This policy is non-negotiable and all editors and articles must follow it." Csww22 (talk) 16:59, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Did you take a look at WP:UNDUE? In any case, your edit does not comply with our manual of style - there are better ways to convey those points of view.Jasper Deng (talk) 02:50, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Broken link for footnote 6, possible replacement

The article by Timothy Brown that was linked at the US State Department website doesn't exist anymore, but the text is still available at a US embassy URL. I just now retrieved it -

http://events.usembassy.gov/68998/show/06e62885fd73bf0effabc198c524a1ce

Since the article is protected, I can't fix this. It would be nice to fix this without a great deal of delay.

David Roknich (talk) 08:18, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

Y Done Fat&Happy (talk) 16:57, 23 April 2011 (UTC)