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TODAY Wednesday 23 April 1997 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site. |
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TODAY Wednesday 23 April 1997 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site. |
TODAY IN THE WORLD: The Day the Earth Day Stood Still
Yesterday I personified a sad trend. Tuesday, 22 April. I took note of the date several times for the sheer good looks of "22 April" as a piece of text. Letters and memos were produced. In mid-afternoon, Jessica Robinson, the Managing Editor here, said, "By the way, Happy Earth Day."
Missed it. Missed it completely.
Just last week we made fun of a House Republican staff memo which urged GOP Members of Congress to undertake earth-friendly media events on 21 April, the 26th anniversary of Earth Day. For Chrissake, we said, at least get the dates right: it's 22 April, and it's the 27th anniversary.
So last night I watched the TV news and this morning I read three newspapers and the only evidence of Earth Day I could find were reports of announcements by elected officials. New Jersey Governor Whitman announced final approval for a light-rail system by the Hudson. Vice President Gore and Secretary of State Albright announced what Reuters described as "... a new green slant to foreign policy."
Actually, both announcements were significant. New Jersey certainly needs alternatives to highways; that the governor is a Republican is all bonus. And the Washington press conference could prove important if it really prefigures an operative change, namely the calculation of global ecological protection as an important component of national self-interest. It certainly does no harm to hear a Secretary of State commit her Administration to a focus on "climate change, toxic chemicals, species extinction, deforestation and marine degradation."
But no demonstrations, no big parades, no insistent demands, no concerts at the Los Angeles Coliseum. I don't doubt that there were some interesting, maybe even passionate, local observations of Earth Day in different parts of the country. I'm sure that for schoolkids there were many field trips and many papier-mache endangered species. Among other things, however, the environmental movement is a national movement obliged to attract the nation's interest and arouse the nation's conscience. We will surely do that -- that is our calling -- but for lots of reasons we appear to have allowed ourselves to take off Earth Day. Maybe we are heading for that bland paradise when the last weekend of May implies nothing about Gettysburg, when the eleventh day of November has nothing to do with doughboys, and when the first Monday of September is remote from the struggle for good work.
TODAY ON THE SITE
Good/bad timing. At the end of last week, we received the text for the next version of the Capitol Hill Spy feature: Hibernicus, our in-house sage, was saying that Al Gore might soon come out very strong and very public on environmental issues as a way to distract attention from his fundraising woes and to distinguish himself from Democratic pretenders for the nomination for President three years from now. That may be happening already, as evidenced by the State Department press conference yesterday. We'll roll in an updated Hibernicus text over the weekend (Marty Strange and hog manure will still be available, but through our Archives section), and next Monday you can all read the Scoop That Almost Happened.
-- New York, 23 April 97, 09:05
4/16: Coca-Cola and the Merrit Parkway
4/17: Our White Guy Problem
4/18: Victims of Extremism
4/21: Toyota Steps Out
4/22: Doorman Ecology