Earth Day comes early

by SARA ARMSTRONG
reporter

Earth Day is officially April 22, but the Earth Day Committee turned April 19 into "An Earth Odyssey" with environmental displays in the Memorial Student Center, a Green Machines race, a fitness walk and ended with lectures and a panel discussion about environmental history and the future of energy in America.

The green machine races had two teams of racers competing for a trophy, which will be passed on annually.

"It [race] will grow next year," Dr. Jeffrey May, professor of biological sciences, said. "We didn't get the information out early enough."

Other green machines such as the hybrid cars that run on both gas and electricity were on display on the sidewalk of the MSC plaza.

Ninety-eight people attended the fitness walk. May said he was happy with the participation of so many people.

"We've grown significantly over past years," May said.

Doug LaFollette, Wisconsin secretary of state, was the keynote speaker for the evening's lectures and gave a speech titled "Blacksmoke to Backlash: A History of the Modern Environmental Movement."

LaFollette said since the 1960s, America has lost some of the good government regulations concerning environmental protection.

"We need to get back into politics," LaFollette said. "I see ourselves to be the custodians of the door to the future. If we are going to preserve options, we need to drag every species we can through that door."

Later in the evening, a panel discussion on the various energy problems in America featured LaFollette, Rick Eades, a hydrogeologist for Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC), and Frank Gillian, professor of biological sciences.

LaFollette focused on alternate energy sources while Eades talked about wind and solar energy and the ways in which businesses are embracing alternate sources of energy and Gillian related statistics regarding the effects of energy use on the environment. "There is a broad consensus about global warming, now we need to decide what to do with it," Gillian said.

Discussions were raised during question and answer sessions about the anger that many young people have about the ways in which earlier generations mistreated the environment. How to get government to listen to environmental views was another topic that garnered much attention.

"I pride OVEC for thinking out of the box. They aren't polite because these days, polite doesn't work," Janet Fout, OVEC project coordinator, said.

More information on Earth Day can be found at www.earthday.org. More information about OVEC can be found at www.ohvech.org.