Earth Day
Photo from the first "Earth Day" held in the US on April 22, 1970

It has been 44 years since the first Earth Day protests in 1970, when 20 million Americans demonstrated for a cleaner environment in protests and rallies across the country, setting the groundwork for what was to become the modernday environmental movement.

To discuss the significance of Earth Day and its history and the current state of environmentalism, Real News invited two guests – see video news report below.

Jenny Marienau is the US Field Manager for 350.org, and works with students organizing on their campuses for fossil fuel divestment. She began organizing against corporate power as a student in St. Louis, MO and has been working with campuses and communities ever since to take on the climate crisis. She lives in Alameda, CA with her partner and cat.

Ted Glick is the National Campaign Coordinator of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. He has been a climate activist for 10 years and a progressive community and political activist since 1968. He has been writing a Future Hope column of political, social and climate movement commentary since 2000, available at tedglick.com.

Check out the report here: