Press

ALBANY, NY – People of all ages can learn how to protect animals and insects, use eco-friendly energy and help control global warming when the New York State Museum celebrates Earth Day on Friday, April 20 and Saturday, April 21.

The programs, which are all free of charge, begin at 7 p.m. Friday at the Clark Auditorium, when Professor Steven Leibo of Russell Sage College, who was trained by former Vice President Al Gore, speaks on global warming.

Leibo, a professor of international history and politics, is among 1,000 “climate change messengers’’ Gore trained to spread the word on global warming across the United States. Gore established the program called “The Climate Project,’’ as a follow-up to his Academy Award-winning film “An Inconvenient Truth.’’ Leibo plans to allow the audience to ask questions on issues the film presented.

“It always lacked the possibility of having a Q & A follow-up after the film finished,’’ Leibo said. “What I will be doing is exactly that, a slide show complemented by more regional information and solutions on how people can begin to address this largest and most long-term challenge to humanity.’’

Earth Day events continue Saturday with a daylong series of programs from 11 a.m. to 4 pm on the first floor of the Museum. Event schedules and maps will be available in the Museum lobby.

Throughout the day, Bill Cliff, storyteller and folk singer, will be entertaining young and old with folk tales, Native American stories and earth-friendly songs.

Christopher Swain will be available to talk to visitors about the PBS movie “Swim for the River’’ that chronicled his swim of the entire Hudson River in 2004. The film will be shown continuously in Adirondack Hall. Swain was the first person to swim the entire river from the
Adirondacks to New York City.

During the swim he encountered a vast amount of consumer electronics dumped in the Hudson waters. Such devices introduce thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals into the ecosystem, threatening fish and mammals. As part of his Earth Day visit, Swain will collect cell phones, digital cameras, pagers, laptops, DVDs or other small electronic devices brought in by visitors so that they can be recycled in accordance with established environmental standards.

Swain also will invite kids to sculpt native fish out of clay, while learning to care for the Hudson River ecosystem.

Earth Day events will be sponsored by HSBC as part of HSBC-North America’s “There’s No Small Change” campaign that is designed to spread the word that each person can make a small change and make a difference in saving the environment. More information is available at ww.us.hsbc.com/theresnosmallchange.com

The New York State Museum, established in 1836, is a program of the New York State Education Department. Located at the Empire State Plaza on Madison Avenue in Albany, the Museum is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission is free and the Museum is fully accessible. Further information about Museum programs and events can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

EDITORS NOTE: A schedule of additional Earth Day activities is attached.