"In 1970 when Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson invented Earth Day, we were groggy, but starting to awaken about rescuing the environment from ourselves. Only two years earlier, the pollution-gagged Cuyahoga River in Ohio actually caught fire, giving another reason why living in Cleveland was depressing. It was as if a higher power was suggesting a final warning. Fix yourselves soon or else. The nation was a mess environmentally, and only a few voices in the wilderness were paying heed. In 1970, environmentalists often were derided and dismissed as quaint protesters who did not understand how the real world worked....So as we approach the 45th Earth Day next week, April 22, think of who we were before 1970... Before 1974, vehicles could spew all the carbonized fumes they wished. But the Clean Air Act required a 90 percent reduction in emissions from new automobiles by 1975; that year produced the first catalytic converters, which dramatically reduced lead in the air.” -By David Rutter Read more at the Chicago Tribune