Photo by Bill Green Community Commons, a conservation organization, celebrated the 38th Earth Day in Baker Park on Saturday with a variety of demonstrations and exhibits promoting ways to protect our environment. John Smucker, a member of Community Commons and founder of Stream-Link, demonstrates how various types of filters can be used to treat common household wastewater before it enters the environment. Viewing the demonstrations, from left, are Sean and Delia Kenny and Sean Sweeney.

On this 38th Earth Day, environmentalism seems to be becoming a way of life.

Recycling is routine for many people, fuel efficiency again tops the list of desired characteristics for car buyers and a few endangered species are actually increasing their numbers.

If this conservation mindset remains with us, humans can reverse some of the damage done, said Eric Kindahl, associate professor of biology at Hood College.

"I see this interest, this desire, to make the future better," he said.

Kindahl is also director of the environmental policy program at Hood.

Environmentalism became a populist issue in the 1920s when hats and other decorative items bore bird feathers, Kindahl said. Frank Chapman, a New York banker, counted local bird populations and realized their numbers were dropping drastically simply because many were being killed for their feathers.

"He realized we were having a tremendous impact on bird populations," Kindahl said.

Chapman began a grassroots effort urging people not to buy hats and other decorative accessories with feathers and he founded the National Audubon Society.

"He drew his inspiration from John Muir, who urged that a dam planned for Yosemite National Park not be built," Kindahl said. "Now it's the idea that through our collected actions we might be able to impact global climate change."

Earlier environmental challenges were inspired by what could be seen, Kindahl said. Air and water pollution, trash cleanups and even declining bird populations are evident changes to the ecosystem.

"It's a little harder to get your hands around a 1-degree change brought about by global warming," he said.

This is where communication comes in. Scientists, who are often more comfortable in the research lab, always had a responsibility to communicate their findings to the public, but that's becoming more important than ever, Kindahl said.

Scientists have become more adept at relating the results of their research to the public as environmental issues have become more important, he said.

Environmentalism comes of age

Global warming has been discussed in the scientific community for several decades. Kindahl remembers it being an issue when he was a college student in the early 1980s.

The 1960s and '70s were another period of environmental awareness. There were litter cleanup campaigns, movements to reduce air and water pollution and in the early '70s, oil and gas conservation came to the forefront for the first time.

"You could see the effects of pollution," he said. "Also it was a time when people were more willing to protest."

President Nixon suggested cutting thermostats to 68 degrees in winter. President Carter wore sweaters in winter and suggested others do the same. There were gas lines. Drivers had to buy gas according to the even/odd number system.

Fuel-efficient cars began selling well. Gas hit one of its highest costs ever, adjusted for inflation, in 1981. But after that, things changed.

"So much is determined by the price of a gallon of gas," Kindahl said. "If we had taken the steps we had planned to back then, things would be different today. We would be importing less oil, and we would have invested more money into alternative energy resources."

The price of gas never dropped much from those 1981 highs, but inflation crept steadily upward and gas prices remained almost constant until 2003.

"It's still relatively inexpensive," he said. "I've lived along the Canadian border, and it's always a lot more expensive in Canada."

Driving a fuel-efficient car is one of the best ways to contribute to lower levels of greenhouse gases, he said. He drives a 1992 Honda Civic that gets more than 50 miles per gallon.

One of his inspirations is his young daughter, who will grow up on an earth showing the effects of her fossil fuel-consuming ancestors. He said young people today are much more environmentally aware than their parents.

"I've noticed a change from my peer group to the students I started teaching," he said.

His students learn about the environment starting in grade school.

"Many school systems have adopted an environmental curriculum," he said. "They didn't have that when I was in school."

Students today also are more receptive to conservation than were his peers. Most scientists have agreed for years that human activity is causing some warming of the planet, while a small minority of scientists have disagreed over the past 20 or 30 years.

"All we've done since then is look at the mountains of evidence," he said. "Just because there is another voice doesn't mean it gets equal support."

Promising technology

There are budding technologies that may one day replace fossil fuels. One of the most promising is solar energy, Kindahl said. In a place such as California with lots of sunlight, solar energy can potentially power large electric plants while in Maryland it becomes a supplemental energy source.

"You need technical innovation to make solar collecting inexpensive," he said.

Another easy way to save energy is to use the energy we already have more efficiently.

"Turn off your computer, turn off your lights, use energy-efficient light bulbs," he said.

Wind energy is a low-cost option, but it has its critics. Some object to the view of the wind towers, while others are concerned about disrupting the paths of migratory birds.

"There's a tremendous potential for wind energy development," he said. "You need to figure what are the costs versus what are our energy needs."

Other alternative energy sources being discussed have different drawbacks. Fossil fuels are needed to produce hydrogen fuel cells. Nuclear energy, which in theory possesses a limitless supply of energy, requires a tremendous amount of fossil fuel to mine the fissionable material needed to produce it, Kindahl said.

"Nowadays, security is also a concern," he said.

Ethanol also requires a large amount of fossil fuel to produce the final product.

"I study conservation biology, and it's a long list of depressing stories, but I still have hope," Kindahl said.