Denis Allen Hayes (born August 29, 1944)[1] is an environmental advocate and an advocate for solar power. He rose to prominence in 1970 as the coordinator for the first Earth Day.
He is also the author of Cowed: The Hidden Impact of 93 Million Cows on America's Health, Economy, Politics, Culture, and Environment[2] and Rays of Hope.[3]
Denis Hayes was born in Wisconsin in 1944, but mainly raised in the small town of Camas, Washington, where in 2007 the Hayes Freedom High School was named in his honor.[4] His experiences growing up in the Pacific Northwest instilled a lifelong love of nature.[5] His father worked at a paper mill on the Columbia River, where both the discharges from the mill and the lack of worker protections showed Hayes the impact of industrialization on both people and the environment.[6]
He left Harvard after being selected by SenatorGaylord Nelson to organize the first Earth Day.[13] The first Earth Day (April 22, 1970) had participants and celebrants in two thousand colleges and universities, about ten thousand primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of communities.[14] It is believed that some 20 million demonstrators participated.[15][16] In 2009, the story of Earth Day was told in the film Earth Days[17] which closed that year's Sundance Film Festival.[18]
Following the success of the first Earth Day, Hayes founded the Earth Day Network and served as international chairman for Earth Day's anniversaries in 1990[19] and 2000.[20][21] Internationally, he is recognized for expanding the Earth Day Network to more than 180 nations.[22] It is now the world’s most widely observed secular holiday.[23] Hayes continues to chair the board of the international Earth Day Network and is the Chair of the Earth Day 2010 Global Advisory Committee.[24] Earth Day celebrated its 50th anniversary in April 2020, and marked the day with environmental activism across the globe [www.earthdaynetwork.org].
Since 1992, Hayes has been president of the Bullitt Foundation[29] in Seattle, Washington and continues to be a leader in environmental and energy policy.[30][31][32] By mobilizing the resources of The Bullitt Foundation, Hayes intends to make the Pacific Northwest the best-educated, most environmentally aware, most progressive corner of America—a global model for sustainable development. He is currently overseeing construction of The Bullitt Center, expected to be the most energy efficient commercial building in the world,[33] firmly planting Seattle at the forefront of the green building movement. The goal of the Bullitt Center is to change the way buildings are designed, built and operated to improve long-term environmental performance and promote broader implementation of energy efficiency, renewable energy and other green building technologies in the Northwest. The building is seeking to meet the ambitious goals of the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most strenuous benchmark for sustainability. For example, a solar array will generate as much electricity as the building uses and rain will supply as much water, with all wastewater treated onsite. Also in Seattle are Hayes' wife, Gail Boyer Hayes[34] (daughter of Paul D. Boyer), and daughter, Lisa A. Hayes,[35] a lawyer defending the Northshore United Church of Christ regarding Tent City 4 (King County, Washington).[36]
