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Every Day Is Earth Day: Evidence on the Long-Term Impact of Environmental Activism

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Hungerman
  • Vivek Moorthy

Abstract

We use variation in weather to study the long-term effects of activism during the original Earth Day on attitudes, environmental outcomes, and children's health. Unusually bad weather on April 22, 1970 is associated with weaker support for the environment 10 to 20 years later, particularly among those who were school aged in 1970. Bad weather on Earth Day is also associated with higher levels of carbon monoxide in the air and greater risk of congenital abnormalities in infants born in the following decades. These results identify benefits to volunteer activity that would be impossible to identify until years after the volunteering occurs.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Hungerman & Vivek Moorthy, 2023. "Every Day Is Earth Day: Evidence on the Long-Term Impact of Environmental Activism," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 230-258, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:15:y:2023:i:1:p:230-58
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20210045
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    Cited by:

    1. Marini, Marco A. & Nocito, Samuel, 2025. "Climate activism favors pro-environmental consumption," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    2. Kountouris, Yiannis, 2022. "Awareness days and environmental attitudes: The case of the “Earth Hour”," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    3. Falco, Chiara & Corbi, Raphael, 2023. "Natural disasters and preferences for the environment: Evidence from the impressionable years," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    4. Catherine Deri Armstrong & Rose Anne Devlin & Forough Seifi, 2023. "Build it and they will come: Volunteer opportunities and volunteering," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(3), pages 989-1006, August.
    5. Ding, Congming & Chen, Zhiyuan & Ma, Qiucen, 2025. "Traditional clans and environmental governance: Evidence from China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    6. Oscar Nupia Mart√≠nez & Carlos Andr√©s √Ålvarez Gallo, 2024. "The Impact of Massive Protests on Individual Attitudes," Documentos CEDE 21190, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    7. Li, Guoxiang & Zhang, Ningyu & Ma, Wenjuan & Zhang, Shaoyong, 2025. "Factor network association, energy poverty and energy performance: The mitigation effects of the “belt and road” initiative," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 390(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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