On the eve of the 51st anniversary of the first Earth Day, the north country was blanketed by fresh icy flakes. Just beginning to awaken, spring blooms have been pushed into sleep again, with growers battening the hatches to protect the seasonâs young crops. Weather rocks would tell you the pandemic year â now rolling into a 14th month â saw rain, sun, snow, wind and fire. A dry summer and frigid winter punctuated 2020, an American chapter that brimmed with environmental degradation, conservation success, policy plays and deeply emotional connections to the blue planet. Inaugurated in April 1970 and marked by Congressâ creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in December that year, Earth Day is a national celebration, a reckoning, a call to action. Environmental groups often note: âEvery day is Earth Day.â