Earth Day Is April 22 – Time to Plan Now!

By Nancy Price
Co-chair, Earth Democracy

April 2021

Calling all WILPF branches and members to celebrate Earth Day on April 22. This year’s theme is “Restore Our Earth.” What are you planning? What is your community planning? Let’s all commit to living as if Earth Day is every day!

It’s time to plan an event or find out what is going on in your community and how you can join in. With warmer weather and following proper protocols, we can all be outdoors together with friends and family to celebrate Mother Earth and learn how we can restore the earth.

Join in with our colorful WLIPF banners and your homemade signs. Ideas: “There is no Planet B.” “The oceans are rising – are you?” “Don’t fool with Mother Nature” “End wars – Restore the Earth” “It’s too damn hot” Be creative!

You can register events on the Earth Day Map here and find an event near you here.

Please send your good quality, high resolution pictures of your participation with the photographer’s name and names of those in the picture to nancytprice39(at)gmail.com and we’ll post them at our Earth Democracy page.

What follows is information about virtual online Earth Day events you’ll want to plan to view and "participate” in.

EARTH DAY – Three Days of Climate Action – April 20-22

Thousands of organizations are coming together April 20-22 for THREE DAYS OF CLIMATE ACTION learning how together we can RESTORE OUR EARTH. Go to the main website.

Explore the website, especially Our Work to learn about the issues and actions EARTHDAY.ORG focuses on year round: Climate Action, Science and Education, People and Communities, Conservation and Restoration, and Plastic and Pollution. Also browse through News + Stories and sign up for email updates.

Complete details of the three days of Climate Action are here but they include:

On April 20, the four-hour digital global youth climate summit is led by Earth Uprising, in collaboration with My Future My Voice, One Million of US and hundreds of youth climate activists. There will be panels, speeches, discussions, and special messages with today’s youth climate activists.

On April 21, Education International will lead the “Teach for the Planet: Global Education Summit.” This will be a multilingual, virtual summit that spans several time zones and it will feature prominent activists from every continent. It is focused on the crucial role that educators play in combating climate change and why we need transformative climate education now.

On April 22, parallel to the Biden Administration’s global climate summit, earthday.org will produce a live digital event that includes segments taking place around the world starting at noon Eastern Standard Time. There will be panel discussions and special performances focused on the Restore Our Earth theme which examines natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems.

Earth Day to May Day – ED2MD - 10 Days of Action

Last year labor, democracy, and climate movements planning to mobilize for Earth Day’s 50^th Anniversary struggled with the onset of COVID-19 and its lockdowns. The grand plan for a large mobilization from Earth Day to May Day was put on hold. Read about the origin of the Earth Day to May Day - ED2MD movement here.

This marks an important strategic reorientation. The relationship between labor and the environmental movement has been on and off again over the years (see "Teamsters & Turtles: An On-Again, Off-Again Relationship"). Last year, the Labor Network for Sustainability still managed to organize virtual Earth Day to May Day events but this will be an ongoing emphasis going forward.

This year, beset by the pandemic and the cumulative impact of the broader social, economic and political crises of our times - "Earth Day to May Day" (ED2MD) again emphasizes the underlying unity between the wellbeing of working people and of our planet – a framing again being raised by a network of labor, community organizing and academic projects in 2021. You can put your event on the map here.

Watch a video of Roberto Clack, Warehouse Workers for Justice’s Executive Director, about Earth Day 2 May Day and why his organization, a workers center, is centrally involved in connecting workplace and environmental issues.

Also on the website is the Declaration of the 2020s, a statement that recognizes that the outcomes of our struggles in this "Decisive Decade" will largely determine the future of humanity and our capacity to face down the multiple, overlapping existential threats before us. Interested organizations and individuals may use the website to register and advertise their own events and also sign the Declaration.

Taking into account the heavy human toll of the pandemic, the grossly inadequate state responses to it, the extreme burden on frontline communities, 2020's difficult but ultimately successful electoral battle against authoritarian populism, and new organizing opportunities, ED2MD is embarking on a broad public awareness and educational campaign that prepares the way for the struggles of the coming years. 

Remember this existential struggle is about ending wars and creating a peace economy that Ellen Thomas’ “Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act” now in the House of Representatives would accomplish. Committing to acting as if Earth Day is every day includes advocating for this important piece of legislation.

Starting April 1, 2021, links to two conferences and many other events (including those organized by United Electrical) will be shared online at www.EarthDayMayDay.org.

Two Conferences with Strong Online Components Anchor ED2MD

One conference hosted at George Mason University (VA), "The Next System and the Academy: Systemic Crises, Movements, and Change," features Amy Best (Sociology, George Mason), Roberto Clack (Warehouse Workers for Justice, Illinois), Diane Fujino (Asian American Studies, UCSB), and Gar Alperovitz (Next System Project).

The other, the “Post Capitalism Conference: Building the Solidarity Economy,” organized at Humboldt State University (CA), features Margaret Kimberly (Black Agenda Report), John Foran (Sociology, UCSB), and Kali Akuno (Cooperation Jackson).

The interlocking issues explored in these conferences will continue to be raised by a network of labor, community, organizing and academic projects throughout 2021.