John, Earth Day has been a special day for me.

I celebrated my first Earth Day in 1970, our country’s first-ever Earth Day. Back then, I was a young naval flight officer preparing for my first of three tours of duty in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. I joined with tens of thousands of people outside near the San Francisco Bay to celebrate our Earth. We united in our commitment to protect our one and only planet.

That day was transformative for me, and it’s served as an inspiration ever since. We have made important progress over the last 50 years to clean our air and water, but we still have a lot of work to do to ensure we have a healthy planet for our children and grandchildren. Earth Day is an important reminder of that. It’s a day to celebrate how far we’ve come and how much further we can go – how much more we can achieve – by going together.

Due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot enjoy this Earth Day together like we normally would. We cannot rally together to show our support for environmental protections and progress. We cannot come together in groups to practice stewardship activities, like nature scavenger hunts, around our communities. But I believe we can – and we should – still celebrate this special day together while practicing safe social distancing.

As you may know, I love music. Just as Earth Day inspires me, I often find inspiration in music, too. So today, I will be celebrating Earth Day by listening to some of my favorite songs that praise the beauty of our one and only planet.

I want to share with you some of the songs that I’ll be listening to today so that you can enjoy them, too. I hope you can listen to this playlist as you take a stroll around your neighborhood (while practicing safe social distancing) or you can listen to these songs as you stay safely inside, appreciating the beauty of Earth from your window.

Check out my Earth Day 2020 playlist on Spotify by clicking here!

You might recognize some of the songs. Here are some of my favorites from over the years:

Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell
This Land Is Your Land – Woody Guthrie
Here Comes the Sun – The Beatles
Sunshine On My Shoulders – John Denver
The Moon’s A Harsh Mistress – Jimmy Webb
Vincent – Don McLean

I’m going to keep adding songs to this playlist throughout the day. If you have a favorite Earth Day song, please share it with me so that I can add it to the playlist! That way, we can truly share this playlist together.

Share your favorite Earth Day song so I can add it to our Earth Day playlist!

Let’s come together today in appreciation of our Earth by sharing the joy of music. Let’s celebrate how far we’ve come to clean our air and water, and let’s remember the work still ahead of us to protect our planet.

I hope you have safe Earth Day.

Happy listening,

Tom