Earth Day 2018
The 48th annual Earth day was celebrated internationally on Saturday. People gathered at San Lorenzo Park in Santa Cruz to take part in both the festivities and the activism.
In the U.S. the culture of partisan politics has divided people on many issues; guns, abortion and a border wall to name a few. When last Summer President Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, it became more evident that the nation was divided on the issue of whether or not we are destroying the environment.
There are many takeaways from this years Earth Day Celebration in Santa Cruz, where the politics of environmental science and other pressing concerns in today’s society converged. Many of those present at San Lorenzo Park were there to both acknowledged and combat the effects of climate change here in the Central Coast.
” We’re a farming community an agricultural community, so entirely agriculture is affected…as we know there’s salt water intrusion,” said Lynda Marin with Citizen’s Climate Lobby.
According to climate scientists global warming could have catastrophic effects on human civilization, still there are some people who say that global warming doesn’t exist
“Look at the facts, actually look into the science if you don’t believe it because the people who are skeptical or deny it they just don’t know. They’re not actually looking at the concrete evidence,” said Elena, Attendee at Earth Day 2018.
When Senator Gaylor Nelson founded Earth Day in 1970, his hope was to make the environment a political issue in an era where U.S. rivers caught on fire and thick smog choked cities. It seemed to have worked, today’s event dealt with more than just the environment itself but liberal-minded policies as a whole.
“The boys have had their chance. It’s time for the women to step up and say no let’s get it together and introduce some more human, intelligence, providing medical care for women and everyone etc. logical things that will bring us a sustainable planet,” said Keith Emmins with Population Connection.
Where someone stands on an issue often comes down to political leanings and party affiliation. At San Lorenzo Park today the politics of global warming were visibly present alongside women’s rights and healthcare funding concerns. Earth Day 2018 seemed to be as much about celebrating the planet as it was about uniting over shared political views.
