Earth Day’s Unfinished Agenda What Colcom Foundation Says Was Left Behind
The first Earth Day, held on April 22, 1970, is remembered as one of the most consequential moments in the history of American environmentalism. It mobilized millions of citizens and helped catalyze a wave of landmark legislation, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency. By most accounts, it was a transformative success. But Colcom Foundation argues that one of its central goals was quietly abandoned.
Through their grants, they have supported many organizations, such as the Center for Biological Diversity, which works towards protecting endangered species, and the Sierra Club Foundation, which advocates for clean energy and climate solutions. These grants have helped to advance important causes and support organizations that strive to make a difference.
Population Was Always Part of the Original Vision
Among the priorities explicitly identified at the first Earth Day was the stabilization of population size, both domestically and globally. Colcom Foundation’s work is premised on the idea that this goal was not peripheral or incidental it was considered essential to any serious environmental agenda. Addressing how much each person consumed and how many people existed were treated as two sides of the same coin.
In the decade following that first Earth Day, the U.S. made meaningful progress on the population side of the equation. Fertility rates fell below replacement level by 1972 and stayed there. Had immigration also been moderated, the country might have approached genuine stabilization. Instead, the U.S. population grew by 127 million people between 1970 and 2020. Over that same period, 1,300 species were listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and 23 species were proposed for delisting in 2021 due to extinction.
An Environmental Movement Divided From Its Own History
Colcom Foundation’s story is, in part, a critique of the environmental establishment. The foundation contends that by sidestepping population as a political concern, major environmental groups have left themselves without the tools needed to solve the problems they care most about. Climate stabilization, species preservation, and habitat protection all become dramatically harder as more people require more land, energy, and resources. The foundation views its philanthropy as a continuation of the original Earth Day mission one it believes the mainstream environmental movement abandoned somewhere along the way. Visit this page for more information.
More about Colcom Foundation on https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/colcom-foundation,311479839/