Around 200 Utah community members assembled on the steps of the Capitol on Saturday, April 26 to celebrate Earth Day and advocate for environmental responsibility.
The event was organized by Grace Christiansen, a third-year student at the University of Utah studying Business Administration and Environmental and Sustainability Studies.
“It’s not about saving the planet,” Christiansen said. “It’s about saving humanity … our Earth and our planet — that’s what society and civilization are built on. Without healthy air and water, there’s no civilization.”
Motivations
Assistant organizer Alta Fairbourne explained her hopes for the rally.
“Our vision was to re-spark collective action in Utah around Earth Day, to refocus and recenter that Earth Day is not a celebration necessarily,” Fairbourne said. “It’s a day where you get civically engaged … My goal was to urge the Utah Legislature to do better in saving the Great Salt Lake.”
Fairbourne is a fourth-year student studying sociology and political science at the U. She currently works with the Utah Rivers Council, a nonprofit geared at restoring Great Salt Lake water levels.
According to the organization, decades of the diversion of water from the streams that feed the Great Salt Lake, combined with the impacts of climate change, have caused the lake’s water levels to drop significantly. As a result, the lake reached its lowest point ever recorded in 2022, with its surface area shrinking by almost 40%.
With this in mind, Christiansen spent over three months organizing and coordinating with local politicians, advocates and EARTHDAY.ORG, an organization dedicated to “diversifying, educating and activating the environmental movement,” in preparation for Saturday’s rally. Speakers at the event included Sarah Stone of Wonderbloom, Lexi Tuddenham of HEAL Utah, and Utah State Sen. Nate Blouin.
Outcome
Given that Utah’s legislative session ended on March 7, this Earth Day event had no specific legislative goals.
“We realized the legislation session had already passed,” Christiansen said. “I wanted to focus and pay homage to the first Earth Day in 1970 [which was] celebrated internationally with government participation.”
However, Christiansen felt the work paid off.
“I love to be able to see the people I’ve inspired to participate and learn more about the local environment,” she said. “I think and hope people left the event with a sense of ‘Now we need to wake up and affect change for the betterment of our next generation.’”
Fairbourne described her own motivations.
“I feel like I have a civic responsibility to redistribute privilege and wealth to make the world a better place,” she said.
The Future of Broader Environmental Legislation
Saturday’s rally was inspired, in part, by recent national administrative changes. Trump-appointed Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin recently advocated the repeal of scientific determinations enabling Clean Air Act regulation and reduction of water safety standards. The move, paired with other environmental rollbacks, would allow Utah to skirt penalties incurred for poor ozone levels in the Northern Wasatch Front.
Nevertheless, Christiansen remains hopeful and plans to organize future Earth Day rallies.
“This is just the start,” she said.
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