Ryder Christ
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Fifty-six years ago, a disaster off the coast of Santa Barbara sparked the creation of Earth Day, a movement that continues to focus on educating the next generation, as it did in 1991.
Thirty-four years ago, children gathered at Santa Barbara’s De La Guerra Plaza to celebrate Earth Day.
At the time, key concerns included deforestation, ozone depletion, and basic recycling awareness.
‘If they keep cutting the forests in Brazil, in 60 years they will be gone,’ one young girl shared in a KEYT news report by Jennifer Mansback.
In 1991, more than 4,200 square miles of forest were cleared in the Brazilian Amazon. By 2023, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon had decreased by 23%, with only 3,475 square miles of forest cleared that year—the lowest annual figure since 2018, according to Mongabay, a nonprofit conservation and science news outlet.
Children were the theme of the 1991 Santa Barbara Earth Day celebration.
“The children get so much input about what’s wrong with the world,” one woman said in the report. “We wanted them to also know that they are very powerful if they choose to recycle or write letters.”
At the time, youth involvement was encouraged to spread awareness. Today, young people are leading global movements using social media and activism to address climate change, microplastic pollution, environmental justice, and the transition to clean energy.
“The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 were a major update to U.S. environmental policy, targeting air pollution from urban smog, toxic air pollutants, and ozone layer depletion.”
Thirty-four years later, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a comprehensive plan to enhance climate resilience, including a target for 67% of new vehicles to be electric by 2032.
However, the Trump administration rolled back several environmental policies, including granting two-year exemptions from mercury and air toxics regulations to 47 coal-fired power plants.
Santa Barbara has a long history with Earth Day, dating back to Jan. 28, 1969, when a blowout from a drilling operation at one of the offshore platforms spilled more than 3 million gallons of crude oil over several weeks—one of the largest oil spills in U.S. waters at the time. It was also one of the first televised environmental disasters.
“The Santa Barbara oil spill brought home, vividly, the lesson that man can no longer irresponsibly exploit the environment without facing consequences,” said Sen. Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day’s founder.
Nelson founded Earth Day one year later, on April 22, 1970.
In response to growing environmental concerns following the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, President Richard Nixon called for the establishment of the EPA in 1970.
Today, the City of Santa Barbara continues to lead the environmental movement by banning single-use plastics to reduce waste entering the ocean and requiring all new construction to use electric systems for heating, cooking, and other energy needs, all in an effort to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.
This year, Santa Barbara will celebrate the 55th Earth Day at Alameda Park on April 26-27.
The 1991 Earth Day Celebration footage is preserved by UCSB Library Special Research Collections as part of the KEYT News Video Archive. Digital copies of materials are available by request. For more information on the collection, contact the Film & Television Curator.
