A history of Earth Day in Delaware

The following article appeared in the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Outdoor Delaware online magazine. Permission was granted to republish it in the Cape Gazette. 

At the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Earth Day is far too important and multifaceted to be confined to a single 24-hour period.

Though Earth Day normally takes place Tuesday, April 22, in Delaware, this holiday is transformed into a monthlong event recognizing the importance of preserving our natural world. For 2025, DNREC has planned tree plantings, beach cleanups, hikes, talks and more. The public can learn and register for these events at de.gov/earthday.

Nationally, Earth Day began in 1970. The brainchild of U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, the inaugural occasion was seen as a way to spotlight threats to the health of the nation’s environment.

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wrote in 1990, environmental problems such as air and water pollution and the unintended consequences of pesticides “were proliferating like a many-headed hydra, a monster no one could understand let alone tame or slay” at the time.

Events like Ohio’s Cuyahoga River catching on fire in 1969 due to oil in the water and the 1962 publication of the book “Silent Spring” helped sow the seeds for a national day dedicated to recognizing the value provided by our natural world and the danger human actions can place it in.

The first Earth Day was a scramble but proved to be a rousing success, with an estimated 20 million Americans gathering for rallies, teach-ins and speeches around the country. Today, according to the nonprofit EARTHDAY.ORG, more than 1 billion people globally recognize Earth Day.

DNREC archives show issues of Outdoor Delaware’s predecessor, the print magazine the Delaware Conservationist, made no mention of Earth Day in the early 1970s. That’s a far cry from 2025, when schoolchildren throughout Delaware learn about the occasion and its purpose from a young age.

Indeed, the environmental movement has progressed a great deal in the past half-century or so, evolving to reflect the changing views and concerns of the American public. Climate change, for instance, has emerged as a driving force for many worried about the state of our natural world.

Delaware Center for the Inland Bays Executive Director and former DNREC Secretary Christophe Tulou attended a commemoration of the very first Earth Day in Washington 55 years ago. To him, the occasion is a reminder that as much as Delaware has embraced the principles behind Earth Day, one state – especially one as small as Delaware – cannot do it alone.

Additionally, the First State’s location means it is deeply impacted by air and water pollution from nearby states.

“We are at the end of America’s tailpipe, so we are uniquely vulnerable,” Tulou said.

The first Earth Day and its early successors were able to successfully tackle several major issues that could not be handled at the state level. EPA was created in 1970, formed from a reorganization that shifted most environmental responsibilities under one large agency. 1970 also saw an update to the Clean Air Act, with the Clean Water Act following two years later.

Locally, 1970 is notable in environmental history for another reason: that’s the year DNREC was created. The agency initially consisted of the Division of Fish and Wildlife, the Division of Parks, Recreation and Forestry, the Division of Environmental Control, the Division of Soil and Water Conservation and several advisory councils. Previously, jurisdiction for environmental issues had been split among six different state commissions.

Meanwhile, the Delaware General Assembly passed the landmark Coastal Zone Act limiting heavy industry along our state’s coastline in 1971 and the Beach Preservation Act in 1972. The Coastal Zone Act was promoted by then-Gov. Russ Peterson and is now recognized as playing a major role in safeguarding our coastal resources for their unique ecosystems supporting the recreation and tourism industries in particular.

The Coastal Zone Act was proposed by Peterson to facilitate responsible economic development that is compatible with the preservation of Delaware’s coastal resources. The act also provided provisions for heavy industry and manufacturing uses in operation prior to 1971, some of which continues more than 50 years later.

Through these laws, Peterson’s vision of economic development balanced with natural resource preservation has helped preserve the Delaware way of life.

Early in the history of Earth Day, the environmental movement successfully took aim at “low-hanging fruit” like sewage leaking into waterways, air pollution and the pace of development, Tulou said. There was a general agreement that something needed to be done to reduce pollution, improve public health and allow future generations to enjoy the rich bounty supplied by our planet, he said.

Unquestionably, changes put into place around the time of the initial Earth Day have had a positive effect on our country.

According to an analysis published in the Journal of Pediatrics, for instance, the Clean Air Act prevented around 435,000 premature deaths and saved roughly $50 trillion nationally from 1970 to 2020. Cleaner air means fewer people getting respiratory illnesses, which is especially beneficial for children.

The Clean Water Act, meanwhile, significantly expanded water monitoring, and at the national level, it prevents 350 million tons of pollutants from entering our streams, ponds, lakes, rivers, bays, seas and oceans annually, per the National Wildlife Federation.

Today, the challenge is different.

Issues are more complicated, such as managing forever chemicals like PFAS and the continued reduction of nonpoint source pollution required to meet water quality goals set by the Clean Water Act. These require buy-in not just from policymakers but from the public, including potential lifestyle changes with an eye toward a more sustainable future.

Actions at the state and national levels can improve water quality at the local and regional levels, but because communities across the globe are interconnected in so many ways, the problems cannot be resolved by Delaware or even the United States alone. Still, many elected officials and environmental experts recognize the importance of taking charge and leading by example.

As the lowest-lying state with an average elevation of around 60 feet, Delaware is especially vulnerable to sea level rise. Fortunately, many nearby states have bought in, and Delaware is today part of a coalition of Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states focused on reducing greenhouse gases, to name just one partnership.

Continuing the shift toward cleaner, renewable energy is a huge part of what can and should be done, Tulou noted. Delaware has taken big strides toward green energy in recent years, with both DNREC and individual legislators seizing the initiative. The private sector has also bought in to a degree as consumers have begun requesting products that have less of an impact on the environment.

Electric vehicles, for instance, were seen by many just a few years ago as prohibitively expensive experimental technology. But they are becoming increasingly mainstream, with manufacturers placing more focus on zero-emission vehicles in response to consumer demand.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the number of electric, hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the United States increased from about 4.3 million to 12.3 million from 2016 to 2023, while the number of such vehicles in Delaware leapt from about 12,000 to 30,000 over the same timespan. The EV market is expected to continue to expand in the coming years.

“We can’t responsibly spend time and resources protecting our residents from sea level rise and flooding and more powerful storms and more extreme heat, and not take steps to prevent the residents 20 and 50 years from now from having it worse than we do,” DNREC Secretary Greg Patterson said. “That means taking actions to help communities along our coast adapt and become more resilient to current and future conditions, and also take steps to slow the rate of climate change, including and especially transitioning to cleaner energy.”

In the words of Tulou, it’s a fight we cannot afford to lose. And the process is never-ending.

“Earth Day of today ought to be about not being complacent about the success the Earth Days of the past have provided to us,” Tulou said. “We cannot afford to believe, as a nation, that because we have clean water and cleaner air, we can stop working to protect those resources.”