Originally created to raise environmental awareness, the first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. What better sign to be under than earthy Taurus? Boy, how the times have changed! 1970 was also the year that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was founded. Because of the growing green movement, since then we have successfully gotten lead out of gasoline, passed stricter pollutant emission standards, reduced the concentration of lead in drinking water and the cleanup of hazardous waste sites. Thanks in a large part to the dedication of such key players as Nobel Prize winner Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Ed Begley Jr. and Leonardo DiCaprio, we’ve taken major leaps and bounds but there is still more work to be done. In 1970 a gallon of gas in California cost just 34¢. Contrast that to today’s price of upwards of $3.00 a gallon. With the deforestation of the Amazon, severe food shortages and major dependence on foreign oil, we need Earth Day now more than ever!
