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Making every day Earth Day

Natural gas plays a vital role in helping to preserve the universe.

By Georgeann H. Ikuma

aving the way for a pollution-free planet began nearly 51 “Now, $1 billion people participate in Earth Day
years ago. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans — 10% activities to celebrate nature and remind everyone
of the U.S. population at the time — took to the streets to
P protest environmental deterioration and demand a new of the importance of protecting the planet.”
way to preserve the world, according to earthday.org. Now, more — earthday.org
than a half-century later, 1 billion people participate in Earth Day
activities to celebrate nature and remind everyone of the importance
of protecting the planet. smoke and other pollutants with little regard, or even knowledge,
Public gatherings recognizing this year’s Earth Day have been of their dire consequences. Until this point, mainstream America
downsized due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the push to create a remained mostly oblivious to environmental concerns and how a
cleaner and healthier environment remains strong. The 2021 theme polluted environment threatens human health.
of Earth Day — taking place April 22 — is “Restore our Earth.” The inception of Earth Day provided a voice for this environ-
In the decades before the first Earth Day, Americans were consum- mental consciousness, according to earthday.org. By the end of
ing vast amounts of leaded gas, and a variety of industries expelled 1970, significant changes were underway. The first Earth Day led
to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency in December 1970 and the passage
of other first-of-their-kind environmental laws,
including the National Environmental Education
Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and
the Clean Air Act.

CAusE FOR CElEBRAtION
Today, Earth Day finds the United States much
better off environmentally, and natural gas has
played a significant role in its improvement.
“Natural gas has many qualities that make it an
efficient, relatively clean-burning and economi-
cal energy source,” according to the U.S. Energy
Information Administration. Unlike other fossil
fuels, natural gas does not release ash residue or
sulfur oxides, and only produces small amounts
of nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide. This
makes natural gas an effective and safe alterna-
tive for industrial and residential use, electricity
generation and transportation fuel for vehicles.
Because of this, natural gas is less a factor in envi-
ronmental hazards such as smog (composed pri-
marily of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides)
and climate change.
The theme of this year’s Earth Day, which takes place April 22, is “Restore the Earth.” Clean-burning The U.S. Department of Energy analyses indi-
natural gas plays a significant role in helping to preserve the environment. cates that every 10,000 U.S. homes powered with

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