Earth Society Foundation ESF

Earth Day Proclamation
by
John McConnell
June 21, 1970

Whereas: A new world view is emerging; through the eyes of our Astronauts and Cosmonauts we now see our beautiful blue planet as a home for all people, and
Whereas: Planet Earth is facing a grave crisis which only the people of Earth Can resolve, and the delicate balances of nature, essential for our survival, can only be saved through a global effort, involving all of us, and
Whereas: In our shortsightedness we have failed to make provisions for the poor, as well as the rich, to inherit the Earth, and our new enlightenment requires that the disinherited be given a just stake in the Earth and its future ~~ their enthusiastic cooperation is essential if we are to succeed in the great task of Earth renewal, and
Whereas: World equality in economics as well as politics would remove a basic cause of war, and neither Socialism, Communism nor Capitalism in their present forms have realized the potentials of Man for a just society, nor educated Man in the ways of peace and creative love, and
Whereas: Through voluntary action individuals can join with one another in building the Earth in harmony with nature, and promote support thereof by private and government agencies, and
Whereas: Individuals and groups may follow different methods and programmes in Earthkeeping and Earthbuilding, nevertheless by constant friendly communication with other groups and daily meditation on the meaning of peace and goodwill they will tend more and more to be creative, sensitive, experimental, and flexible in resolving differences with others, and
Whereas: An international EARTH DAY each year can provide a special time to draw people together in appreciation of their mutual home, Planet Earth, and bring a global feeling of community through realization of our deepening desire for life, freedom and love, and our mutual dependence on each other,
Be it Therefore Resolved: That each signer of this People Proclamation will seek to help change Man’s terrible course toward catastrophe by searching for activities and projects which in the best judgment of the individual signer will:
• peacefully end the scourge of war…
• provide an opportunity for the children of the disinherited poor to obtain their rightful inheritance in the Earth…
• redirect the energies of industry and society from progress through products...to progress through harmony with Earth’s natural systems for improving the quality of life…
That each signer will (his own conscience being his judge) measure his commitment by how much time and money he gives to these purposes, and realizing the great urgency of the task, he will give freely of his time and money to activities and programmes he believes will best further these Earth renewal purposes. (At least 9 percent of the world’s present income is going to activities that support war and spread pollution. Ten percent can tip the balance for healthy peaceful progress.)
Furthermore, each signer will support and observe EARTH DAY on March 21st....(Vernal equinox – when night and day are equal throughout the Earth) with reflection and actions that encourage a new respect for Earth with its great potentials for fulfilling Man’s highest dreams; and on this day will join at 19:00 Universal Time in a global EARTH HOUR – a silent hour for peace.....

ORIGINAL SIGNERS OF THE EARTH DAY PROCLAMATION -- 1970-71

1. Alexander B. Grannis – New York Assembly;
2. Judith Hollister – The Temple of Understanding;
3. Luther Evans – Former Director General of UNESCO;
4. Estelle Feldman (Ireland) – 1970 World Youth Assembly;
5. David R. Brower – Friends of the Earth;
6. Arvid Pardo – Ambassador, UN Mission to Malta;
7. Margaret Mead – Anthropologist;
8. Eugene McCarthy – U.S. Senator from Minnesota;
9. John Gardner – Common Cause;
10. Mike Gravel – U.S. Senator from Alaska;
11. Hugh Scott – U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania;
12. Buzz Aldrin – American Astronaut;
13. S. O. Adebo (Nigeria) – President of UN Assembly;
14. U Thant (Burma/Myanmar) – United Nations Secretary-General;
15. Maurice Strong (Canada) – UN Environmental Program;
16. Yasuhiro. Fukushima (Japan) – Environmental Scientist;
17. René J. Dubos – Environmental Scientist;
18. Lubos Kohoutek (Czechoslovakia) – Astronomer;
19. Buckminster Fuller – Inventor, Scientist, Scholar;
20. Mark Hatfield – U.S. Senator from Oregon

In the years between 1990-1996, as more people had become aware of the observance of EARTH DAY; they wanted to be involved. They familiarized themselves with the EARTH DAY PROCLAMATION. To demonstrate their agreement with all the concerns and issues set forth they placed their signatures on the Proclamation joining that of the Secretary-General and those that had signed in the previous years; they are:

21. John Denver – Singer;
22. Robert Muller (France) – Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations
23. Edward Abramson – Majority Whip, New York State Assembly;
24. Isaac Asimov – Author;
25. Aly Teymour (Egypt) – Chief of Protocol, United Nations;
26. Anatoly N. Berezovoi (Russia) – Cosmonaut;
27. Cynthia Lennon (United Kingdom) – Artist;
28. Stan Lundine – Lieutenant Governor, New York;
29. David Dinkins – Mayor of New York City;
30. Oscar Arias – President of Costa Rico;
31. Audrey McLaughlin – Leader, NDP, Canada;
32. George Fernandes – Minister of Transportation, India;
33. Carlos Salinas – President of Mexico;
34. Yasser Arafat – President of Palestine;
35. Yehudi Menuhin – Musician, Violinist;
36. Mikhail Gorbachev – former President of USSR 09/07/00

A celebration of Earth Day was held March 19 across the street from the United Nations, with a program of speeches and fellowship ---
Equinox Earth Day March 19th Program

“Building an Economics and Culture of Peace”

A free in-person event.

9:30 – Door opens at the Henry School of Social Science, 149 E. 38th St. NY 10016 (cross street? Subway number?) Live music of Ean Valte.

10:00 – Mary Carlin, Earth Society Foundation, on the original Earth Day (equinox) and the “earth rights” economics of peace of Earth Day founder John McConnell. Short video presentation produced by Henry George School educator Ed Dodson.

Musical interlude - “The Earth is our Home, It’s Where We Live”

10:30 – Climate and the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Who controls? Who pays?

Environmental and earth rights economists Marty Rowland and Polly Cleveland followed by Q and A, moderated by Ibrahima Drame, Henry George School Program Director

11:15 – Predator and Prey – The New York City Housing Crisis

Cherokee Black and Ed Lee (djelf7) speak about current and ongoing urgent struggles against evictions and for the basic right to shelter. Several respondents affiliated with the Henry George School shared the earth rights perspective on housing and land rights, problems and solutions.

12:00 – Open Microphone focus on housing / shelter.

12:30 - Lunch break with music, singing and an invocation by Rev. Yolanda Brown.

1:30 – Amazing Amy performed her “Yoga Contortionist for Peace” act with the accompaniment of musician Ean Valte.

1:45 – Earth Rights Democracy and the Economics of Peace

Elizabeth Gould shared the “magical mystical” life journey of she and her husband Paul Fitzgerald from Afghanistan to Ireland, insights into the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and their “eureka” discovery of the political economics of Henry George.

Mitchell Cohen focused on the war in Ukraine with a particular focus on land and resource grabbing from the context of his decades of experience in environmental and peace activism in New York.

Music interlude – Singalong with several musicians - Let It Be and We are the World

Quisia Gonzalez spoke on Human Rights, Earth Rights, Trauma and Love from the perspective of many indigenous people.

Alanna Hartzok presented an “earth rights democracy” perspective and narrative via a series of Economics of War and Peace charts and a focus on the catastrophe in Gaza.

Afternoon moderator Bruce de Torres read original poems and highlighted selected writings of the Economics of Peace panelists.

3:00 – Music performance by Ean Valte

3:10 - Philippine Mission to the United Nations speaker.

3:30 – Where to from here? – Rick Ulfick envisioned possibilities for expanding the earth rights democracy movement through working with his vibrant worldwide organization We Are the World.

3:45 - Open Microphone for remaining time.

Closing Remarks – Vamonos! – Let’s Go!!!

Is cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch worth the effort?
Efforts are underway to tidy up the ocean's biggest plastic hotspot. But this cleanup operation could be damaging a unique ecosystem and doing little to stop the overwhelming plastic problem

By Andrew Kersley

15 January 2024

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ocean Voyages Institute/ZUMA Wire/Shutterstock (10692672ab)
Dead tuna fish in huge ball of old nets in the ocean. Ocean Voyages Institute's marine plastic recovery vessel, S/V KWAI, after a 48-day expedition, successfully removing 103 tons (206,000 lbs.) of fishing nets and consumer plastics from the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone, more commonly known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch or Gyre. Ocean Voyages Institute has set a new record with the largest at sea clean-up in the Gyre ever done, and more than doubled its own record-setting results from last year.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. Also known as the Pacific trash vortex, the garbage patch is actually two distinct collections of debris bounded by the massive North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Great Pacific Garbage Patch Clean Up, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA - 22 May 2020
Fish caught up in discarded nets in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Ocean Voyages Institute/ZUMA Wire/Shutterstock

IT WAS a glorious sunny day in September 2023. Excitement filled the air and a rainbow stretched across the horizon as the team slowly hauled a giant net out of the glistening sea. The Ocean Cleanup project was in the North Pacific, trialling its System 03 – essentially two ships dragging a 2.2-kilometre-long net designed to remove as much trash as possible. On this occasion, filmed for a promotional video, it managed a record-breaking 18 tonnes in a single scoop.

The Ocean Cleanup was founded in 2012 on a simple premise: trawl ocean plastic hotspots and sweep up the floating refuse. Now, after years of testing and improving its technology, the organisation says it is ready to start systematically removing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a vast collection of plastic waste between Hawaii and California.

Read more

Something strange is happening in the Pacific and we must find out why

That sounds like a laudable goal. But in recent years, marine scientists have been warning that efforts to mechanically take plastics out of our seas are not only futile, but also potentially harmful. Futile, because we have learned that much of the plastic waste in the oceans is too small or too out of reach to be captured. And harmful, perhaps, for two reasons: because the latest research shows ocean garbage patches are home to all manner of marine life and because clean-up operations could distract from efforts to stem the flow of such waste at source.

So, given what we know…