April 9, 1998
Contact:
Mike Laberge
(207) 581-3756
EARTH DAY A `MIXED LEGACY' FOR ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS, UMAINE FACULTY MEMBER FINDS IN SURVEY
ORONO -- Every April since 1970, Americans have celebrated Earth Day with fairs, rallies and educational programs.
The holiday serves to promote environmental values--but it also reveals the environmental movement's limitations, says a political scientist at the University of Maine.
"A number of environmental groups consider the holiday's very popularity to be its own undoing, as corporate and business groups use Earth Day as an opportunity to define themselves as supportive of the environment," says Amy Fried, an assistant professor of political science. "The holiday has proved to be a mixed legacy, reflecting the schisms permeating American environmentalism."
Fried studies public opinion. She is interested, particularly, in collective memory--how events such as holidays help shape our politics, culture and values.
In a paper now under review by the journal "Environmental Politics," Fried surveyed staff members at 18 major environmental organizations.
She asked them to describe their Earth Day activities, to discuss the political or educational nature of Earth Day, and to consider how Earth Day influences the way people view the environment.
Respondents said Earth Day reinforces the importance of environmental education, which they agreed has become the most successful and enduring part of the holiday.
Agreement, however, ended there, reflecting the philosophical differences among environmental groups.
Some survey respondents suggested Earth Day has become a "feel good" media story, lacking "political clout." They criticized the emphasis on individual action--recycling, driving fuel-efficient cars, using cloth grocery bags--over collective, political action.
But other respondents argued that consumers do bear some responsibility for the condition of the planet. One person spoke of the need to "focus on incorporating an environmentally-friendly lifestyle into our daily habits the other 364 days of the year," Fried found. Several others complained about littering at Earth Day events.
The sharpest differences centered on corporate sponsorship, Fried found. Some groups criticized corporate funding as "greenwashing," while others viewed the practice as a legitimate means of raising funds for the environmental movement.
For the 25th Earth Day observance in 1995, organizers solicited $20,000 sponsorships, according to Fried's paper. Larger donations allowed companies to adopt the Earth Day USA logo.
One supporter of sponsorship wrote, "If a corporation is moving to be green, that's just fine. Many of today's corporate leaders participated in the first Earth Day in college; it turned them into environmentalists. If they try to coopt Earth Day, they'll just help spread environmental propaganda."
But an opponent of sponsorship countered, "Many times waste companies sponsor family events with entertainment, commercial enterprise books and exhibits to promote the idea that polluters are really protectors of the environment. Corporate sponsorships, incinerator company Frisbees given away, tables of goods hawked by non- or pseudo-environmental organizations ... change the character of meaning of Earth Day in a negative way."
Overall, however, Fried found that Earth Day does benefit environmental groups.
In 1995, for instance, environmentalists held Earth Day rallies against Republican proposals to reduce environmental standards, drawing significant media attention. And each year, schools throughout the country hold Earth Day programs like fairs and nature walks to teach children the importance of protecting the environment.
"It has reached the point where schools always do something for Earth Day. Interest groups--whether pro-environment or anti-environment-- are taking the time to try to influence environmental education, because they realize it affects the next generation," Fried says.
"Creating a new national holiday, one in which millions of adults and children regularly participate, is a remarkable achievement," Fried concludes in the paper. "Earth Day's socializing effects may influence Americans over the long term. While a number of environmentalists often decry the often muted celebrations of Earth day, the holiday's ability to institutionalize some version of environmental values may prove to be a valuable inheritance."
Fried is available through Wednesday, April 22. She may be reached at (207) 581-1797 or by e-mail at [email protected].
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