Welcome to my new category of posts, Throwback Thursdays! Here I will be looking back on notable moments in the history of environmentalism. With Earth Day approaching, I thought I would discuss how this wonderful day came to be. Earth Day, April 22nd, is the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. At the time, Americans were burning through leaded gas like it was their job. Large corporations expelled smoke and sludge without any consideration of the environmental consequences. In fact, the word “environment” was hardly seen or talked about anywhere. The idea for Earth Day came to be when founder Gaylord Nelson, a senator from…