SENATOR PARKER CELEBRATES THE 43rd ANNUAL EARTH DAY

PARKER CONGRATULATES NEW YORK’S ENVIRONMENTALISTS FOR THEIR PAST SUCCESSES AND A BRIGHT FUTURE PROTECTING OUR AIR AND WATER

(Brooklyn , NY)  “We are fortunate to have a whole generation who have grown up since the first Earth Day in 1970, that do not remember when lakes caught fire, when garbage was strewn across our fields, streams and streets, no falcons roosted in Manhattan, and New York City had not become the environmentally sustainable metropolis it is today,” said Senator Kevin Parker. “By protecting our environment over the past four decades, we have also been protecting our health and our children 

In 1970, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin declared April 22^nd as Earth Day.  The first nationwide celebration of the day involved 22 million Americans who joined together to fight against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife. On Earth Day’s 20th anniversary in 1990, the celebration became global as 141 countries took part in Earth Day. Over the years since 1970, New York has played a leadership role in protecting the environment and fighting to limit greenhouse gas emissions through legislative initiatives like the Environmental Protection Fund, and the initiatives to cap air pollution like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

“Today is Earth Day, and by working together to ‘Go Green,’ we can protect our neighborhoods and communities for ourselves and our children, and create countless job and economic development opportunities in green technology to grow our economy and provide paths to economic success for all our community and all New Yorkers,” Senator Parker continued.

For more information on how to make a difference and live green, go to the Department of Environmental Conservation website at http://www.earthdayny.org/.

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About Senator Kevin Parker

Senator Kevin S. Parker is intimately familiar with the needs of his ethnically diverse community in the heart of Brooklyn that consists of 318,000 constituents in Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Ditmas Park, Kensington, Windsor Terrace, and Park Slope. He is the Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee, Assistant Democratic Leader for Intergovernmental Affairs, and Chair of the Democratic Task Force on New Americans.

Contact: Umair Khan, Esq. | mukhan@nysenate.gov | 518-455-2580 ph |518-426-6843 fax