April marks the season of Spring, and with it comes the celebration of Earth Day. Earth Day annually takes place on April 22. Since its inception in 1970, over 190 countries celebrate Earth Day with over 1 billion people taking action to save the planet every year. The idea of Earth Day came from Junior Senator Gaylord Nelson,who had long been concerned about the deteriorating environment in the United States. In January of 1969, after a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, Senator Nelson got to work making a committee of like-minded people. They planned a teach-in on a college campus that would be broadcast across the country. Earth Day inspired 10 million Americans, 10% of the population at the time, to take action against the impacts of 150 years of industrial development, which had left a growing legacy of serious human health impacts. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment and there were massive coast-to-coast rallies in cities, towns, and communities. In 1990 Earth Day became global, mobilizing millions of people to recycle worldwide. Earth Day 2010 came at a time of great challenge for the environmental community to combat the cynicism of climate change deniers, well-funded oil lobbyists, reticent politicians, a disinterested public, and a divided environmental community with the collective power of global environmental activism. In face of these challenges, a new web page, EARTHDAY.ORG, was launched. This brought hundreds of millions of more people to the movement. Earth Day is about empowering individuals with the information, tools, messaging, and communities needed to make the world a better place.