FOUNDER OF EARTH DAY TRACES HIS CAREER

University teach-ins evolved into an annual observance of environmental awareness.

In 1969, then-U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin was flying over a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, Calif., when he was struck by the ignorance that allowed such a tragedy to happen. He hired Denis Hayes to coordinate a series of teach-ins at universities to focus public attention on the environment.

The teach-ins provoked such widespread interest in the well-being of the environment that Earth Day was established in 1970 and has become a national event.

Hayes, founder of Earth Day, recently told Children's Express about his views on the state of the environment today, his reasons for becoming involved with the first Earth Day and why he maintains his interest in the environment.

Hayes grew up in the Pacific Northwest, in a paper-milling community on the Columbia River. His concern for the environment stems from his experiences there as he watched the destruction of nature in that area.

Humans the greatest threat

"(I) spent most of my summers roaming through the woods and a lot of it out on boats on the river. I got more and more concerned by what my own hometown was doing to the region around there _ clear-cutting the forests and pouring lots of poisons into the river.

"I'd go down sometimes in the morning and see hundreds of fish slapping up against the banks. I decided I wanted to do things with my life that tried to make that better," Hayes said.

Today, he sees the human population explosion as the greatest threat to the environment. According to Hayes, there are about 5 billion people on Earth consuming more than 40 percent of all plant and animal species on the planet. He expects the world population to reach 8 billion to 9 billion, which will leave little food for any other organisms.

His distress over the state of the environment was not relieved by the recent Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. He feels that the United States, as the world's most powerful country, needs to take a leading role in protecting the environment.

"It was very sad . . . At the 1972 environmental conference in Stockholm, which was the only other Earth summit sort of meeting that has been held, the United States was the strongest environmental proponent in the world. We pulled along countries like the Soviet Union and Brazil that were fighting it aggressively," Hayes said.

"In 1992, down in Brazil, on almost every issue, the United States was the country that took the least supportive role with regard to the environment. I was pretty embarrassed by the positions that our government took. I'm sure that they will change over time as we change leaders."

Positive outlook

Hayes continues his work with the environment in hope of a better future.

"Until the collapse of the Cold War and the new progress that the United States and the Soviet Union have started to make toward dismantling nuclear weapons, the greatest real threats to the fundamental integrity of the planet . . . were from nuclear war. Environmental issues, broadly considered, are the only issues out there that pose a similar kind of threat."

Hayes also has a personal reason for trying to ensure the health of the environment.

"I have a daughter who is a senior in high school this year, and a big part of my motivation for working in this field is to try to help create a world for her that has a future."