April 22, 2005 is the 35th Anniversary of Earth Day

Earth Day, which began in 1970, is now celebrated by millions of people worldwide. This year is its 35th anniversary, and around the world, hundreds of thousands of nongovernmental organizations and governments are making plans to declare that they are part of something extraordinary: a worldwide movement to protect our planet, our children, and our future.

This year, Earth Day Network’s theme is “Protect Our Children and Our Future.” Despite the extraordinary and often false obstacles that we face in our efforts to protect our natural resources and our biodiversity, few will argue with the imperative to protect our children from harm. As a consequence of that imperative, we call on governments, corporations, labor organizations, social oraganizations and all people in our troubled world to work with us to ensure that children everywhere are healthy, educated, and free from oppression.

This Earth Day, hundreds of major events will take place around the world, in communities large and small, in classrooms, in parks and on beaches, in places of worship. From Kiev to Beijing, from India to Romania, from Africa to the Americas, we will demonstrate our diversity and our resilience. We look forward to your participation and working with you to make this Earth Day the beginning of a global effort to protect our children’s health and future.