The Earth Day 2008 Let Down

Earth Day 2008 came and went. ONE day a year when we should all pause to admire and respect the Earth we so casually abuse day after day. It appears, however, that while we all know Earth Day should be more important than ever, it remains one day and is no more recognized than 10 years ago. I'll share a handful of examples contributing to my discouraged take.

I got an e-mail from the CEO of Carbonrally today. He was in downtown Boston handing out posters and flyers and reported how depressing it was that there was so little activity in honor of Mother Earth today. What a shame, particularly for such an academically charged and educated city of professionals.

I recently chaperoned a fourth-grade field trip to the Blue Hills Observatory in Canton, MA. It’s the oldest working weather tracking station in the U.S. and is considered the U.S. benchmark on global warming since they have been tracking weather patterns daily for 130 years. As we looked out miles ahead through clear skies toward Boston Harbor, I asked the head climatologist there whether he too thought that the state of FL would actually be under water in 100 years. He responded “maybe not the whole state, but most of it is only 15 feet above sea level, so a good portion will be under water, perhaps before then. We are averaging 3 degrees warmer. It’s a problem.”

As a PR person, I'm privy to many “call for sources” that reporters send out. The volume around Earth Day 2008 in recent weeks could absolutely have been higher. My efforts to pitch a world renowned climate expert, Dr. Deborah Brosnan, for comment about the impact of natural disasters (now 3x more common) on people and ecoystems, also fell on deaf ears. http://www.sei.org/ I have no doubt that journalists take the issue seriously, but it remains unpopular. The U.S. media are of a pack mentality - thus why Britney Spears continues to trump Iraq and the Pope's visit was widely covered for a week. The "sustainable future" is an annoying concept that many readers and viewers decline to acknowledge. It’s uber real though. We all know it.

Here's to Earth Year 2009. Let's hope elected officials, a majority of concientious businesses, many more consumers - and certainly mainstream media, give a much better showing next year. The climate clock is ticking.