Earth Day, celebrated on April 22 each year, marks the anniversary of the birth in 1970 of the modern environmental movement in the United States. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species acts. By April 22, 2000, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in 184 countries. Today more than 1 billion people participate in Earth Day activities, making it the largest secular civic event in the world. The Earth Day Network, founded by the organizers of the first Earth Day, promotes environmental citizenship and year-round action worldwide.
每年4月22日的“地球日”（Earth Day）是1970年在美国诞生的现代环保活动纪念日。第一个地球日催生了美国环境保护署（U.S. Environmental Protection Agency）,《洁净空气法》(Clean Air Act) 、《洁净水法》(Clean Water Act)和《濒临灭绝动植物保护法》(Endangered Species Act)等一系列法案也相继出台。至2000年4月22日止，全世界已有5,000个环保组织开展工作，深入184个国家的亿万民众。今天，有10多亿人民参加与地球日有关的活动，使地球日成为全世界最大的非宗教公民活动。由第一个地球日组织者创办的“地球日网络” （The Earth Day Network）组织正在为提高全世界民众的环保意识和常年举办的活动积极奔走。

Q: When did Earth Day move from the United States to nations around the world?
问：地球日什么时候开始从美国走向世界各国？

Rogers: Earth Day has been global since its inception but became truly global on its 20th anniversary in 1990. That year, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes, the organizer of the first Earth Day and chairman of Earth Day 2010, to step up again. This was in the lead up to the 1992 U.N. Earth Summit in Rio and environmental issues were entering the global consciousness. That year, Denis and the Earth Day Network mobilized 200 million people in 141 countries.
罗杰斯：地球日从成立伊始就面向全球，但在1990年第20个纪念日起成为名符其实的全球性活动。一群环保工作领导人在1990年敦请第一个地球日的组织者和2010年地球日的主席丹尼斯·海斯(Dennis Hayes)带领大家重整旗鼓。这股势头于1992年在巴西里约热内卢召开的“地球峰会”（Earth Summit）[联合国环境与发展会议(United Nations Conference on Environment and Development)]上得到继续，环保问题逐渐成为全球共识。丹尼斯与“地球日网络”组织在那一年动员了141个国家的两亿人民参加活动。

Q: Describe some of your major international programs and activities.
问：请给我们介绍一些你们主办的主要国际性项目和主题活动。

Rogers: First, let me say that the State Department has been absolutely essential in helping Earth Day Network plan our programs abroad. Some of the biggest Earth Day events this year are taking place in India and China, where we are collaborating directly with the U.S. embassies in Delhi and Beijing and with four or five consulates in each country. In India, the American Cultural Centers across the country will host Earth Day events, and in China the State Department is using materials from our Education Department to teach university students about environmental issues and the history of Earth Day.
罗杰斯：首先，我得告诉大家，国务院为帮助“地球日网络”规划我们的国际项目发挥了绝对关键的作用，几个有今年规模最大的“地球日”活动在印度和中国举行。我们在那两个国家与美国驻德里（Delhi）和北京（Beijing）大使馆及四、五个领事馆直接进行协作。在印度，遍布各地的美国文化中心（American Cultural Centers）将主持“地球日”主题活动；在中国，国务院采用我们教育部的材料向大学生们宣讲环保和“地球日”的由来。

We have also partnered with the Kingdom of Morocco to organize events surrounding the presentation of their National Charter for Environment and Sustainable Development. Morocco is the first African, Muslim and Arab nation to commit, at the highest levels of government, to carry out a national event in honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.
我们还与摩洛哥王国（Kingdom of Morocco）结成伙伴，以介绍他们的“国家环境与可持续发展宪章”（National Charter for Environment and Sustainable Development）为中心组织各种活动。摩洛哥是在政府最高一级承诺开展纪念“地球日”成立40周年活动的第一个非洲国家，也是第一个举行该项活动的穆斯林和阿拉伯国家。

We also have events planned with partners in Buenos Aires, Kolkata, Barcelona and Tokyo, to name a few. Earth Day remains truly global!
我们还与我们在布宜诺斯艾利斯（Buenos Aires）、加尔各答（Kolkata）、巴塞罗那（Barcelona）和东京（Tokyo）等地的合作伙伴规划了各项主题活动，其它的就不一一列举了。“地球日”仍然是名符其实的全球性纪念日！

Q: What’s next for the Earth Day Network?
问：“地球日网络”下一步的计划是什么？

Rogers: Earth Day Network plans to build on the connections we have made this year, to deepen and broaden the scope of our activities and the mission of Earth Day. For instance, our Global Day of Conversation program has strengthened our relationship with 290 mayors and locally elected officials in more than 39 countries. We are working with more than 1,500 NGOs worldwide on climate change issues and building partnerships in many countries to create green schools. We are finishing up plans for a global conference on women and climate to be held in Washington. We are also planting 1 million trees around the world in partnership with James Cameron’s film Avatar and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, and this vast undertaking will endure well after Earth Day. Domestically, we will continue to push for comprehensive legislation to confront climate change and to lay the foundation for a green economy.
罗杰斯：“地球日网络”计划继续发展我们今年所建立的与各方的联系，深化并扩展“地球日”的使命以及我们各项活动的范围，例如，我们的“全球对话日”（Global Day of Conversation）项目已经加强了我们与超过39个国家中的290位市长和当地民选官员的关系；我们正与全世界1,500个非政府组织（NGO）就气候变化问题进行合作，并与许多国家建立伙伴关系以创建绿色学校；一个将于华盛顿召开的世界妇女与气候会议的计划工作已进入最后阶段；我们还正在与詹姆斯·卡梅隆（James Cameron）导演的巨片《阿凡达》（Avatar）和20世纪福克斯家庭娱乐公司（Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment）合作，在全世界种植一百万棵树，这个宏大的事业将在“地球日”以后很长时间里继续进行；在美国国内，我们将继续推动全面立法，以应对气候变化，并为绿色经济奠定基础。

We are extremely excited to see what we as an organization, and we as a global movement, can all accomplish in the next 40 years.
作为一个组织、一个全球性的运动，展望在未来的40年中我们将能达成的伟业，我们无比激奋。