Virtual Earth Day Festival Planned for April 22-24

Source: CEC

The Community Environmental Council (CEC) is hosting #CelebrateClimateLeadership, a virtual Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival dedicated to inspiration, community building, and climate action. The FREE livestream event begins on Thursday, April 22 and runs until Saturday, April 24. It will be available to view at SBEarthDay.org.

The virtual Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival – which will be fully online again this year due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions – will feature three days of conversations with climate leaders, musical performances, art contests, inspirational speakers, and opportunities for individuals to learn how they can lean into action at this urgent moment.

Each day will celebrate a key area where climate leaders are stepping up to do the critical work needed to combat the climate crisis:

• April 22: Youth Leadership
• April 23: Business Leadership
• April 24: Community Leadership

CEC will also use the three-day event to outline and dive deeper into the organization’s ambitious plan for how our community can meet the urgency of the climate crisis and go all in together on halting the impacts of climate change – rapidly and equitably – through three major efforts:

• Reverse: Push for ambitious, equitable zero emissions and zero waste goals for the energy, transportation, food, and agriculture sectors
• Repair: Tap into the power of nature to draw down excess carbon from the atmosphere and repair the disrupted carbon cycle
• Protect: Safeguard the health of our general public and vulnerable populations from the impacts of climate change already underway

“In 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets and parks on the first Earth Day to learn about how they could protect the environment, creating a national shock wave that fueled rapid and impactful action,” said CEC CEO Sigrid Wright. “This is the kind of inspired action we need today, and it can happen here if we each lean in and commit – to learning, to leading, and taking bold action every day toward environmental solutions.”

Kathi King, Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival Director, added, “We remain committed to the idea that even though we can’t gather in person, we can come together with amazing artists, youth activists and esteemed environmentalists to take collective action and lessen our impact on the Earth. We are proud to celebrate Climate Leadership in a year when we are seeing the return of strong federal leadership. This inspires us to work even harder toward rapid, equitable solutions to the climate crisis.”

The event will also support local businesses and organizations by featuring an array of exhibitors who will share their eco-friendly products and services on the dedicated online platform where the event will take place. Details and registration links will be shared soon via email to past exhibitors. Groups who have not participated in the past (nonprofits and businesses) are welcome to contact Iris Kelly at earthday@cecmail.org for more information.

The three-day program offers a robust (and growing) lineup to engage and activate our community. Musical performances and inspirational messages from leaders – including U.S. Congressman Salud Carbajal and other elected officials – will be shared throughout the event.

Highlights currently include:

Featured music performers:

• Zach Gill
• Jackson Gillies
• Kenny Loggins
• Glen Phillips
• Tina Schlieske

Featured art events:

• “Why Earth Day Matters” poetry competition, organized by the Wildling Museum of Art & Nature and judged by a Santa Barbara Poet Laureate and 2020 Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival performer Sojourner Kincaid Rolle. Submissions are accepted now through March 22 at https://sbearthday.org/poetry.
• 18th Annual “What the Channel Means to Me” Student Art Show, hosted by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper. The contest is open to high school students from Carpinteria to Goleta and serves to highlight our region’s natural beauty while celebrating student creativity and artistic skills. Awards will be presented during Youth Leadership day on April 22. Details coming soon.
• Climate-Themed Mural Contest, organized by Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara and Community Environmental Council. Details coming soon.

Featured speakers and events to date:

Youth Leadership, April 22

• Keynote by former CEC Board President and current Santa Barbara School Board Member Laura Capps
• La Colina Junior High School Green Club
• UC Santa Barbara Environmental Affairs Board
• Explore Ecology workshop
• City of Santa Barbara Water Conservation assembly
• 2018 CEC Environmental Hero Florencia Ramirez will share about the Pesticide Free Soil Project that works with young people at a regenerative micro farm in Oxnard to build healthy soil, save water, increase food nutrition, and grow youth leadership

Business Leadership, April 23

• Opening address from Towbes Group Residential Community Manager and CEC Board Member Nadra Ehrman
• 2020 Earth Day Live emcees and LOACOM principals Eric Cardenas and David Fortson will reprise their role as masters of ceremonies and share highlights from their “better world strategies”
• Circular Economy discussion featuring Sun & Swell Foods and Restore Foodware
• Business sustainability discussion with longtime CEC partner and Oniracom CEO Jacob Tell

Community Leadership, April 24

• Nature Based Solutions for Sequestering Carbon community forum organized by the League of Women Voters of Santa Barbara and CEC
• “Let’s Calm Our Climate!” conversation with local chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby
• A Conversation with CEC CEO Sigrid Wright and Terry Tamminen, an author, lecturer, strategist on energy and the environment, and former Schwarzenegger Administration cabinet member
• Climate Crisis Leadership Summit, organized by CEC and co-chaired by CEC CEO Sigrid Wright and CEC Board Secretary Dr. David N. Pellow, who holds multiple roles at UC Santa Barbara as Dehlsen Chair and Professor of Environmental Studies, as well as being the Director of the Global Environmental Justice Project

To inspire public engagement, an “Earth Day – Every Day” campaign is being designed by UCSB Environmental Studies Lecturer and CEC Partnership Council member Deborah Williams. Stay tuned for details on how to join this campaign that will provide 21 actions (for Earth Day 2021) and a customizable pledge to allow members of the public to take a variety of positive actions for the planet.

CEC’s Earth Day Festival production partners are contributing their time and expertise to produce the virtual event. They include Carp Events, Central Coast Clean Cities Coalition (C5), Cultivate Events, Explore Ecology, LOACOM, Mercury Press International, New Noise Music Foundation, Oniracom, Pharos Creative, and Write Kinda Girl.

About CEC’s Santa Barbara Earth Day

Widely acknowledged as the birthplace of Earth Day, Santa Barbara’s involvement began with the devastating 1969 oil spill off its coast. This led a local group of concerned citizens to begin discussing a different way of looking at environmental systems. During that time, Senator Gaylord Nelson visited Santa Barbara to view the oil spill damage. When he returned to Washington, D.C., he introduced a bill designating April 22 as a national day to celebrate the earth. Over the next few years, the environmental movement was born across the country – including CEC. Led by a group of forward-thinking youth and elders, CEC incorporated in the spring of 1970 and its first act as a new nonprofit was to hold an Earth Day celebration – a one block long teach-in between State St. and Chapala St along Anapamu. Around the country, 20 million concerned citizens attended similar events. We recognize that “every day is earth day” and that special events like this are a way to bring diverse voices from our community together as a reminder to tread lightly on the planet.

For up-to-the-minute information on CEC’s #CelebrateClimateLeadership Virtual Earth Day Festival:

• Find Earth Day on the web at SBEarthDay.org
• Like “Santa Barbara Earth Day” on Facebook.com/SBEarthDay
• Follow the event on Twitter @SBEarthday and on Instagram @SB_EarthDay

About the Community Environmental Council (CEC)

Recognized as a 2020 California Nonprofit of the Year and 2020 City of Santa Barbara Climate Hero, CEC has worked since 1970 to incubate and innovate real life environmental solutions that directly affect the California Central Coast. Our current work advances rapid and equitable solutions to the climate crisis – including ambitious zero carbon goals, drawdown of excess carbon, and protection against the impacts of climate change. Our programs lead to clean vehicles, solar energy, resilient food systems and reduction of single-use plastic. Learn more about why CEC is one of only five nonprofits in Santa Barbara County to have the highest possible ratings on Charity Navigator and Guidestar at CECSB.org/impact. Find CEC on the web at CECSB.org and on Facebook.com/CECSB, Instagram.com/CEC_SB, Twitter.com/CECSB, and LinkedIn.com/CECSB.