How a Wisconsin politician changed the scope of environmental legislation in the U.S.

Without Wisconsin’s “conservation” governor, the upcoming 46th Earth Day would not exist.

Gaylord Nelson created the day dedicated to motivating human action toward protecting the environment. The idea came to him one day in 1969 when he was reading an article about how anti-war teach-ins on college campuses were reshaping the dialogue on the Vietnam War, Tia Nelson, his daughter and managing director for Climate for Outrider Foundation, said.

“In that moment, he snapped his fingers and said, ‘That’s it. I’m going to call for an environmental teach-in,'” Tia Nelson said. “Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that that simple idea, the idea of setting aside a day to teach about the environment, would precipitate the environmental decade.”

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Ken Notes: I want to challenge our current Governor and legislature to create a 2016 Environmental Legacy Project. A New Park, Law, Program, Fund, or Other investment of public funds, not now in existence, that betters Wisconsin`s Environmental Legacy and is worthy of global attention.