50th Earth Day Anniversary Marks Environmental Progress But Unfounded Claims by Environmentalists

Statement by Myron Ebell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment:

“The fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day marks tremendous progress made in cleaning up and protecting the environment over the past half century. Our air and water are clean, toxic waste sites have been cleaned up, and wildlife is flourishing across America. Unfortunately, many environmental groups are unwilling to celebrate success and, instead, make unfounded claims that, for example, air pollution remains a significant health threat. 

“This year’s Earth Day theme–climate action–provides further evidence that the environmental movement has lost touch with the concerns of most Americans. The policies being proposed to reduce global warming, like the Green New Deal, would have a negligible impact on warming but would wreak environmental and economic havoc. Building hundreds of thousands of windmills and millions of solar panels, for example, would impose a blight on the natural landscape and, worse, hurt Americans by making energy more expensive.”