“Not a Single Republican Has Mentioned Earth Day in Congress Since 2010.”
* Headline from National Journal says it all: “Not a Single Republican Has Mentioned Earth Day in Congress Since 2010.”
For years, mentions of Earth Day have sprung up each April from members of both parties. In April 2010, Democrats spoke of Earth Day over 150 times, mostly in commemoration of its 40th anniversary. But no Republican has uttered the words "Earth Day" on the House or Senate floor since 2010.
The last to do so was Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, in support of expanding nuclear-power generation. "Forty years ago, at the time of the first Earth Day, Americans became deeply worried about air and water pollution and a population explosion that threatened to overrun the planet's resources," reads Alexander's speech. "Nuclear power was seen as a savior to these environmental dilemmas." Eight months later, the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in densely populated, nuclear-dependent Japan would set off a new wave of environmental dilemmas.
More (great graphic):
http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/not-a-single-republican-has-mentioned-earth-day-in-congress-since-2010-20140421
