The nation celebrated its first Earth Day in 1970, April 22—a response to the widespread awareness of the devastating pollution of our country. Remember Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962)? The Cuyahoga River on fire?Urban smog? In July 1969 we had had the first moon landing; with the Apollo 17 crew in 1972 we saw the Blue Marble image of Earth. How small we are in the Heavens!

The first Earth Day led to the creation of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency, December 1970)and federal legislation expanding specific rules and

actions for clearing up our air, mandating personnel training, emission controls of industry, and transportation fuels. Water was next with the Clean Water Act (1972) and then our Endangered Species Act (1973). Earth Day became an annual world event, leading to the Paris Agreement of 2016 and its focus on climate change which is affecting the world’s patterns of rainy and dry seasons, the ocean’s temperature, global glaciers and the stability of our polar ice packs.

Just consider our resource of water—depending on where you live in our states, plenty of it and sometimes too much? Is it drinkable, much less available for you if you rely on a well or spring or water pipes? A reminder: less than 1% of Earth’s total fresh water is available for us and as the polar snow and ice packs or glaciers diminish their water either goes into the salty ocean or dries up in the land heat. Despite the Vatican’s calls supporting water as a human right, our political powers such as the US and Europe cannot agree—Kyoto Water Forum 2013.

In a snapshot of our Earth today we see her burning [California 2018, Australia and the Amazon 2019-20], parched due to droughts or flooded and whipped by excessively strong hurricanes and rains. All God’s creatures—animal, aquatic, bird and human—are suffering from the smoke and pollution of chemicals in what we wear, eat, and breathe. We cannot continue to rely upon piecemeal or individualized actions as tree planting, composting, solar heat or rainwater collection.

Should not this Earth Day and the days, weeks, months following be revolutionary once again? Can we not strive to be truly transformed in our own way of seeing what God has given us? Can we become the preachers for all through our decisions (personal and social) in what we drive, how we illumine our buildings, conserve our own lands or support in our larger communities?  This is the Common Good of our Earth World which we broadcast.

After the election of George Washington in 1789, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin if the United States was a republic or a monarchy.  He responded, “A republic, if we can keep it.”

Under norms of rationality, the recent Wisconsin democratic primary would never have happened.  Governor Tony Evers sought to postpone the in-person Democratic primary because of the pandemic and stay-at-home orders issued by his own office.  This appeal was denied by the conservative Wisconsin state supreme court and later denied by the similarly-conservative U.S. Supreme Court – a Supreme Court which, by the way, cast their votes on this remotely, a privilege not granted to Wisconsin citizens. Television cameras focused on thousands of primary voters wearing masks, trying to position themselves six feet apart from each other as they stood in line for as long as two hours.

These people risked their lives not only to exercise a fundamental right, but to do their civic duty, when seeking absentee ballots could have protected them.  As they reached the interior of the voting sites, they had to stay within two feet of poll workers… many of whom were elderly and therefore part of a vulnerable population. Wisconsin voters carried signs reading, “This is crazy,” and “Is this democracy?”

This irrational and irresponsible decision could infect many citizens with the virus and cost lives.  It was later discovered that nine thousand absentee ballots requested earlier by voters were never sent, disenfranchising people who followed the rules to vote absentee.

Voter suppression is not a new phenomenon.  Numerous barriers to voting came to light during the 2018 mid-term election.  In Dodge City, KS, the polling site was moved from a centrally-located area to the outskirts of town more than a mile from the nearest bus stop, making it more difficult for the poor and Hispanic citizens to vote.  In North Dakota, Native Americans were deprived of the opportunity to vote because they did not list an address when registering to vote; reservations do not have street addresses.  In Georgia, many African American voters were removed from the rolls because they had not voted in the previous two elections.

After the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision to weaken the landmark voting rights act, many states lost no time eliminating polling places. Arizona closed 320 sites in 13 counties. Southern states have closed 1,200 voting sites. There was one common denominator in these closings: the large majority was in areas populated by people of color.

Voter suppression is real and growing. I believe in light of this obvious weakening of fundamental democratic rights, Benjamin Franklin would answer the question about our nation much differently today.

April brings thoughts of the beauty that surrounds us. Flowers with a rainbow of colors abound, and the gray of winter disappears. Even though we are limited in our movement because of the coronavirus, the beauty is there to inspire. April also brings to mind Earth Day and all that has happened since April 22, 1970, when Senator Gaylord Nelson hosted an environmental teach-in.

Fast forward to 2020 and we find rubble in many forms:

• the United States withdraws from the Paris Accord
• the EPA suffers drastic cuts
• the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act are weakened
• changes in the Endangered Species Act threaten all wildlife
• scientists are ignored

Is there any good news in today’s reality?

While our government is ignoring an environmental crisis, individuals are stepping up with a determination that inspires. Students have made the streets their new classroom, drawing attention to climate change and the urgency of the most critical concern of our day. While that may not make parents or principals happy, their voices need to be heard—this is their future!

I have been impressed by students who are collecting plastic bottle caps.  These caps are sent to a company that produces benches and picnic tables made from this normally-discarded plastic.  More individuals are refusing to use plastic straws, instead using metal straws, or simply drinking from the glass.

Informed citizens know the state of our plastic-infested oceans.  The Pacific Ocean is now called ‘plastic island” because it contains an amount of plastic twice the size of Texas, harming marine life and destroying ecosystems. We dump 150 million metric tons of plastic in all of our oceans, and add eight million tons each year, according to the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions. One survey found plastic in 94% of our tap water.

What better time than this “Earth Month” to make a difference with our choices and our voices.