A lot has changed over the intervening 48 years, but environmentally sensitive activists and other agree much remains to be done.
That first Earth Day, its estimated that as many as 20 million Americans fanned out across the country to protest the denigration of the environment. In the wake of the first Earth Day, Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970, the Clean Water Act, which became effective in October of 1972, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 were all hallmark pieces of legislation that have played a major role in changing how Americans interact with their natural surroundings.
"I think we're much better off in that we just know a lot more about the ways we've impacted the environment and we know a lot more about solutions to some of those problems," said Malcolm Hodges with the Georgia Conservancy, which looks after the Coosa Prairies, the Marshall Forest and Black’s Bluff Preserve in Floyd County.
The Coosa River Basin Initiative has been Rome's water watchdog for more than two decades. Executive Director Jesse Demonbreun-Chapman said there was no question water quality in the rivers has greatly improved.
“Every type of wastewater treatment process has improved over that time." He said there is no more casting out a line in the rivers and reeling in toilet paper.
Even before CRBI, the Keep Rome Floyd Beautiful office has been around since 1976. Executive Director Mary Hardin Thornton believes that local government has responded to the ever-changing needs and requests of residents and has been a leader in the effort to recycle, create community gardens, beautify public places, and clean the waterways.
The rapid increase in the number of bald eagles nesting in the Rome area, at least five active nests and a couple of others that may or may not be active right now is a solid indication of a return to a cleaner environment, creating habitat for the raptors and other species that were almost wiped out by DDT.
Looking to the future, several experts believe that climate change could be one of the most significant environmental issues for coming generations. Jovanelly doesn’t believe a broad cross-section of the public-at-large has bought into the climate change issue.
“Looking at immediate climate change versus long-term climate change is not much understood," she said. As a geology professor, Jovanelly is trained to a take a 400,000 year perspective as opposed to a four-year analysis. "An understanding of big picture climate change really helps us to understand that carbon dioxide levels today should not be this high,” Jovanelly said.
Hodges said, "A lot of the low hanging fruit we have done things about. Laid before us are some really difficult problems to address. We've got a lot of people that are putting a lot more pressure on the environment. We have fisheries that are overtaxed and a lot of those are international waters, so it's hard to have good laws."
The biologist said he is confident the intelligence exists for humankind to do what needs to be done.
"We just need to find the will," Hodges said.
Jovanelly agreed, saying implementation of green technologies is something that just takes time. She sees a generational shift taking place as she works with students at Berry daily. "There is a paradigm shift toward the importance of fuel efficiencies and energy conservation," Jovanelly said.
Thornton said two of the biggest challenges facing our environment include assigning value to a myriad of disposable conveniences.
“Rome in the 1970s and 1980s did not have the lottery or fast-food restaurants and gas stations on every corner," Thornton said. "A lot of litter is generated by people eating in their cars and the foot traffic leaving local convenience stores with scratch-offs and candy bars. Why people choose to litter is a complex issue, but we must acknowledge there is a lot of stuff."
The biggest improvement with local ramifications in the future would be full funding of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to do its job properly, according to Demonbreun-Chapman. He pointed to the fact that International paper had to get involved themselves in the establishment of updated biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) allocations for the Rome mill. Demonbreun-Chapman said that was something the EPD should have accomplished eight years ago.
The Rome water watchdog pointed to a spill from a chicken house near Dawsonville last year that essentially sterilized a creek that feeds the Etowah.
"Come to find out EPD had not inspected that site on the ground for at least five years," Demonbreun-Chapman said. "Having all the rules and regulations in the world doesn't mean a thing if the agency charged with protecting the environment isn't allocated the resources to do their work."
