Time Online: Welcome to TIME's Earth Day chat! Our guest, Earth Day 2000 organizer Denis Hayes, is here and we're ready to begin! First of all, Happy Earth Day, Mr. Hayes!

Denis Hayes: Happy Earth Day to all!

Time Online: Can you tell us a little bit about what you've been up to today to celebrate Earth Day?

Denis Hayes: Today was the international launch of the earth day 2000 campaign. We had a press conference at the UN with Klaus Toppfer, the head of the UN's environmental program and Bill Richardson, the US energy secretary. We reached out to the media and did a lot of interviews to raise attention on Earth Day 2000.

Question: How did you get the idea for Earth Day?

Denis Hayes: The initial proposal was a suggestion by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. He hired me to become the national coordinator and it evolved beyond the states and generated an explosive interest in environmental affairs. The idea was born in 1969 and the actual first Earth Day was in 1970.

Question: Have you discussed your goals for the future with Gaylord Nelson, the senator who founded Earth Day?

Denis Hayes: Absolutely. He is the founding chair of the network that is coordinating this campaign.

Question: What do you feel is the most important issue we can get involved in today?

Denis Hayes: The focus of Earth Day 2000 is on how the consumption of oil and coal is warming the planet and on the need to move to solar, wind, geothermal and other energy sources that will not affect the climate. If we fail to take action, the long term results are potentially the greatest calamity in history.

Question: Isn't every day Earth Day?

Denis Hayes: Every day requires people to act with environmental integrity and we hope to see the values of Earth Day to become the fabric of everyday life. The day we come together for a public affirmation of these values is April 22.

Question: Which do you consider a greater threat in these contemporary times: Nuclear proliferation, or the manner in which we poison our water supplies?

Denis Hayes: This is the same sort of question as "Would you rather be executed by a firing squad or hung?" There are lots of issues that must be addressed if the human species is to have a future.

Question: What are the things that are going on around the world to celebrate Earth Day?

Denis Hayes: Earth Day this year will be celebrated in more than 50 countries and in different countries the focus will be on different issues. We've tended not to have coordination around particular themes. In the year 2000 we will have a cohesive theme. In poor countries there may be a focus on deofrestation. This year, the focus ranges on dams and on the destruction of rain forests in the South Pacific and South America. For a full breakdown of activies in different parts of the world, you can go to www.earthday.net and glance at the calendar. Comment: I believe Earth Day is one of the most important occurences of this century. You should be proud of this accomplishment.

Question: Is your job hard and do you like it?

Denis Hayes: Well, my "job" is as president of the Bullitt Foundation, a $100 million philanthropy in Seatle. My work with Earth Day is on a volunteer capacity and I must enjoy it because I find myself putting 30-40 hours per week into it.

Question: Many people feel that the environmental movement has become rarified and out of touch with real people -- how do you confront that problem?

Denis Hayes: I think the environmental movement is real people. You may be thinking of the leadership of the movement, which does tend to draw from the upper-middle class, well educated part of the social spectrum. Few of them go bowling or to car races. But at the grass roots level and in the environmental justice part of the movement, the leadership is drawn from a diverse set of backgrounds and this is where the future vitatlity of the movement will be drawn from.

Question: Do you rely upon celebrity involvement; e.g. Sting and his rainforest crusade?

Denis Hayes: We don't rely upon it, but we do welcome it. The Earth Day in 1990 was hosted by Tom Cruise and Richard Gere. However, the speakers on the stage came from all social backgrounds and all walks of life.

Question: Is there a way that we as individuals can help stop or calm down the warming of the planet?

Denis Hayes: Yes. Whenever you buy a car or a house, and appliance, you should make sure you buy the most energy efficient model that meets your needs. Second: you should bring pressure upon your Congress people to adequately fund solar and wind energy sources and federal procurement of renewable energy technology. And finally, you should demand that the President and the Senate approve and ratify the Kyoto protocol on global warming.

Question: What realistic changes do you think that Earth Day 2000 will accomplish -- as compared to Earth Day 1970?

Denis Hayes: Earth Day 2000 will closely follow the model of Earth Day 1970 which produced both institutional changes such as the cration of the EPA and legal changes such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. It is our hope that Earth Day 2000 will similarly change the framework within which government, business and citizens make their energy choices for the future.

Question: Do You think we will be around after the year 2000? Or will the earth blow up or something?

Denis Hayes: I'm reasonably optimistic that the earth won't end with a bang and moderately hopeful that it won't end with a wimper.

Question: Do you consider the oceans to be a viable site for future habitation? We can't simply fire up the rockets and send our excess populations to Mars.

Denis Hayes: The earth now has 6 billion people. It has already exceeded its carrying capacity if we hope to have a life style like that in Western Europe. The answer is in controlling human population expansion rather than trying to grow gills and live under the sea. If we can convince families to have just one child most of our problems would become solved.

Question: What are your views on the business of nuclear power and the problem of waste?

Denis Hayes: I believe that nuclear power makes no economic or environmental sense. Any atom that can be split to provide electricity can also be split to make a bomb. If we were to obtain any large fraction of the world's energy requirments from nuclear power, we would need to ship enough bomb-grade materials each year to make millions of nuclear weapons. In an imperfect world such a strategy can produce terrifying results.

Question: There are many countries that will not participate in population control. What are we to do as environmentalists? Wait for them to come around?

Denis Hayes: There is a growing recognition in the wake of China's decision to dramatically limit its population growth that rather than being a source of wealth, a large population can guarantee perpetual poverty. And enlightend leaders from around the world gathered in Cairo at the UN population conference to adopt an agenda toward that end. The most important elements of such a strategy are to make sure that all of the women on earth receive a high school education; that they have opportunities for meaningful work; and that they have access to birth control information and supplies.

Time Online: Before we close, we have one last question about Earth Day..

Question: Thanks for all you do about Earth Day. Do you visit schools and present programs for students?

Denis Hayes: We are going to be arranging for a great many people to do that in the year ahead. I will personally probably have time for less of that in the next 12 months than I have had the last few years, but talented people will be doing this around the world. To get access to good information about environmental and energy curricula for schools, visit our website at www.earthday.net, and Happy Earth Day!

For more information on Earth Day, read Denis Hayes's profile in TIME's Heroes for the Planet series.
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