April 22 was Earth Day. The first Earth Day was organised in 1970 by US Senator Gaylord Nelson and activist lawyer Denis Hayes to teach US citizens about the environment.

At that time 20 million people across the US participated in peaceful demonstrations that called attention to environmental dilemmas. Senator Nelson said the purpose of Earth Day was “to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda.”

In 1990, Earth Day was celebrated for the first time around the world, mobilising 200 million people in 141 countries. Today many more countries mark this event annually. However, as Jackie Alan Giuliano states:

“Some would argue that although many people are more aware of environmental issues today than in 1970, little has been done to stem the tide of environmental destruction in a world where economic growth outweighs planetary health. If anything, the destruction is happening at a greater level than ever before. It is often less visible because industry leaders and politicians know how to keep things quieter with the help of well-paid public relations firms.

“...Earth Day continues to be a Hallmark card holiday, a day of a few beach clean-ups, educational booths, tree plantings, speeches, conversations and parades. Many festivals and fairs will be held with food, exhibits and, I am sure, many opportunities to buy products to filter our poisoned air and water. While the lectures and conversations take place on Earth Day, in Bangladesh, hungry people fight to get fish from polluted sewage treatment plant water.

“Earth Day should not be a day to sell T-shirts as fund-raisers. It should be a day to teach simplification, to model how to end our consumption-at-all-costs lifestyle, and to highlight the importance of establishing a deep and profound connection to the natural world, the cycles of life, and the rhythms of nature.

“On Earth Day, maybe more than ever before in history, we need to reflect seriously on the fact that time may really be running out for our planet’s life-support systems—and for us. Maybe Earth Day should be a global call to stop work, to stop driving, to sit quietly at home, use as few resources as possible, and teach our children that the raping and plundering of the Earth in the name of economic growth has taken us to the brink of disaster.

“Maybe Earth Day should be a day of national listening, as Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn says, for the sound of the Earth crying. If we really heard that sound, our only choice would be to act—now.”

Times magazine (April) states: “...drought, disease, storms, flooding, extreme heat, fires, snow cap melting, more smog, sanitation problems, and desertion are all likely effects of global warming.”

Global warming is human-caused pollution that makes the world warmer. We continue to ignore these signs or fail to take action, eg, to save people from suffering/dying from: soil, air and water poisoned with pesticides and toxic chemicals; diarrhoea from polluted drinking water; curable infectious diseases; mercury poisoning because their mothers ate contaminated fish; the millions of gallons of engine oil that is poured down drains and enter waterways; the millions of pounds of hydrocarbons that are released into the atmosphere from, eg, jet skis, lawn mowers, and boat engines; the thousands of gallons of oil and fuel that leak from ageing and malfunctioning pipelines in various countries, polluting groundwater, lakes, rivers, oceans and soil.

The list of activities organised by various countries to mark Earth Day 2006 was impressive. People are encouraged, eg, to save energy, use less water, recycle, commute “smart” by joining car pools or riding bicycles. Even President Bush rode a bicycle on Earth Day.

I note that on April 17, the US Environmental Protection Agency released new figures showing that US greenhouse gas emissions increased 1.7 per cent between 2003 and 2004, setting a new global record for the highest level of emissions ever recorded by any country.

The figures released by the EPA show that total US greenhouse gas emissions increased 15.8 per cent between 1990 and 2004. The US now accounts for roughly a quarter of all man-made greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere worldwide. Saving our planet requires our leaders to take urgent action now.

And what about us? We too are trustees of the Earth. Let us demonstrate social and environmental responsibility. I was appalled by media reports of large amounts of garbage left by “litterbugs” on our beaches and river banks over the Easter holiday.

Our goal must be to develop in our citizens the knowledge, attitudes, values, skills and behaviours needed to maintain, protect and improve the environment.

Let us pledge to play our part by doing the right thing. Take your garbage home! We need initiatives to generate environmental awareness among our people.

Much more can be done in our schools, our university and in our communities—not only to raise awareness of environmental issues globally and locally, but to devise strategies for action at all levels in T&T, eg, the promotion of non-polluting energy sources such as wind, solar, natural gas, biofuels, and propane. We seem to be a nation of talkers rather than doers.

For example, when will we introduce and implement/enforce laws that will lead to “cleaner” vehicle emissions? Have you observed the billowing black smoke that blows through the exhausts of many vehicles here? What is the EMA doing about “ecocide” in T&T?

And what about the Government’s proposal to agree to the building of aluminium smelters in Trinidad? Last year, in my capacity then as chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice, I wrote an article highlighting the dangers of smelters (www.rcsocialjusticett.org). Many citizens continue to voice their concerns about the potential deleterious environmental, health, social and other impact of such smelters on our small island.

Today I am even more concerned about this issue, particularly after the recent farce perpetrated on this nation by those who failed to answer reasonable questions posed to them by members of the parliamentary Joint Select Committee on the proposed construction of aluminium smelters in the southwest peninsula.

In crude terms, those officials who failed to turn up without reasonable excuse and those who failed to answer critical questions were blatantly sticking two proverbial fingers up at each citizen of T&T.

I agree with Prof Spence (13.4.06) that the people of T&T should not be in dialogue with Alcoa about a decision of our Government. “It is for the Government to dialogue with its citizens.” He rightly outlined the role that various ministers should be playing in relation to this issue.

Humans are responsible for assuring a sustainable future. If we really want to protect our planet, then every day should be Earth Day.

Leela Ramdeen is a lawyer and education consultant