    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 124, 111th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    PROCLAMATION 8503--APR. 21, 2010

    Proclamation 8503 of April 21, 2010
    Earth Day, 2010
    By the President of the United States of America
    A Proclamation

    In the fall of 1969, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson announced plans
    for a national ``environmental teach-in''--one day, each year, of action
    and advocacy for the environment. His words rallied our Nation, and the
    first Earth Day, as it became known, saw millions come together to meet
    one of the greatest challenges of our times: caring for our planet. What
    Senator Nelson and the other organizers believed then, and what we still
    believe today, is that our environment is a blessing we share. Our
    future is inextricably bound to our planet's future, and we must be good
    stewards of our home as well as one another.
    On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, we come together to reaffirm those
    beliefs. We have come far in these past four decades. One year before
    the first Earth Day, our Nation watched in horror as the polluted and
    debris-choked Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire. In
    response, a generation of Americans stepped forward to demand progress.
    What Americans achieved in the decades that followed has made our
    children healthier, our water and air cleaner, and our planet more
    livable.
    We passed the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, established the
    Environmental Protection Agency, and safeguarded treasured American
    landscapes. Americans across our country have witnessed the impact of
    these measures, including the people of Cleveland, where the Cuyahoga
    River is cleaner than it has been in a century.
    We continue to build on this progress today. My Administration has
    invested in clean energy and clean water infrastructure across the
    country. We are also committed to passing comprehensive energy and
    climate legislation that will create jobs, reduce our dependence on
    foreign oil, and cut carbon pollution.

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    We have more work to do, however, and change will not come from
    Washington alone. The achievements of the past were possible because
    ordinary Americans demanded them, and meeting today's environmental
    challenges will require a new generation to carry on Earth Day's cause.
    From weatherizing our homes to planting trees in our communities, there
    are countless ways for every American, young and old, to get involved. I
    encourage all Americans to visit WhiteHouse.gov/EarthDay for information
    and resources to get started.
    The 40th anniversary of Earth Day is an opportunity for us to reflect on
    the legacy we have inherited from previous generations, and the legacy
    that we will bestow upon generations to come. Their future depends on
    the action we take now, and we must not fail them. Forty years from
    today, when our children and grandchildren look back on what we did at
    this moment, let them say that we, too, met the challenges of our time
    and passed on a cleaner, healthier planet.
    NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
    America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
    the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 22, 2010, as
    Earth Day. I encourage all Americans to participate in programs and
    activities that will protect our environment and contribute to a
    healthy, sustainable future.
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of
    April, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence
    of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.
    BARACK OBAMA