Fresno observes Earth Day with local events focusing on climate action | Opinion
Today, people around the world will celebrate Earth Day.
In Fresno, residents observed the annual event earlier this month, on April 12, via a free, outdoor festival at Fresno City College sponsored by the Environmental Collaborative of Central California and the Fresno City College Math, Science and Engineering Division. On Monday, the Fresno State State Sustainability Club held its own Earth Day event with music, plants for sale and free T-shirt screen printing.
Both local events were great places to find out what Central Valley groups are doing to address problems like plastic pollution, childhood asthma, climate change, water management and the need to protect natural habitats for a good future for the next generations.
The first Earth Day events in April of 1970 gave a voice to the growing public concern about the need to protect our water, air, soil and biodiversity. The huge participation in the teach-ins, rallies and marches of that Earth Day lead to the Nixon administration’s establishment of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts.
The Environmental Protection Agency was also established at that time to provide accurate data and enforce regulations to keep our water and air clean. Unfortunately, that federal agency is currently undergoing major cuts and changes in policy under the Trump administration that are likely to lead to increased pollution, health risks and a weakening of environmental protections. In these hyper partisan times, it can seem surprising that much of our major environmental protections originally came about under a Republican administration.
When Earth Day was first launched, in the ’70s, public awareness about global warming and climate change was minimal. While some scientists attempted to warn the public about global warming as early as the 1960s, public attention increased in 1988 after well-respected NASA scientist James Hansen testified before Congress about the risks of global warming from the gases released from burning oil, coal and gas.
These days, awareness of climate and environmental issues has grown, and this year’s Earth Day theme is “Our Power, Our Planet,” to highlight the need for less polluting energy solutions.
In the Central Valley, we are seeing some of our Republican members of Congress reach across the aisle to embrace common-sense clean energy solutions. Congressmembers Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, and David Valadao, R-Hanford, recently co-signed a letter alongside 19 other Republican Congressmembers asking the House Ways and Means Committee to preserve the clean energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Even though this bill was passed by Democrats, millions of dollars are flowing to Republican districts, bringing good jobs and innovation in the clean energy industry to those areas. Clean energy tax credits are responsible for 50% of the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions expected from the Inflation Reduction Act — that means cleaner air, energy independence and steps towards a more stable climate.
Consider observing Earth Day by contacting your Congressional representative and asking them to protect clean energy tax credits.