Earth Day synergy

In 1980, on the 10th anniversary of Earth Day, Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson recalled the "broad and deep support for the environmental movement" his inspiration revealed. The response stunned him.

After nearly four decades, discussions about a safer, cleaner and healthier planet are part of everyday conversations at work, home and houses of worship. Even the Seattle Mariners, in a first for MLB, are going carbon neutral for tonight's game against the Baltimore Orioles.The first Earth Day was followed by monumental legislation — the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act — but as action and leadership stalled at the federal level, it devolved to the states and localities, where most of the activity on greenhouse-gas emissions resides.

President George W. Bush took the United States out of most international discussions on climate change. His recent announcement of a new target date for stopping U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions by 2025 was largely ignored as too little, too late.

Earth Day 2008 is about the connections recognized and the choices made based on energy costs and recycling options. Nothing focuses the mind like $4-a-gallon gasoline, steep monthly energy bills and the links to food prices.

Grandmother's frugal ethic of "use it up and make it do" is being recycled by a younger generation that not only embraces environmental values, but is also being stung by the high prices of everything from jeans to bottled water.

For this generation, access to transportation alternatives is leaving the green realm and simply becoming a quest for practical options to an expensive car.

Seattle Times reporter Eric Pryne found an urban renaissance on Seattle's Martin Luther King Jr. Way driven in part by proximity to light rail. More than 1,500 condo and apartment units have been proposed, and they are described as the first built without government subsidy in more than 30 years. As Pryne noted, more is coming.

The conversations continue. None of it is automatic and smooth. Energy-saving light bulbs save money, but come with disposal issues. Corn-based ethanol is being used to power cars. That raises food prices. So researchers are looking for the next generation of biofuels.

Festive events from Brunswick, Maine, to Safeco Field will note the occasion, but Earth Day is happening daily very close to home.