200 Million Worldwide Pay Respect to Earth : Environment: Fete, observed in 136 nations, was marked by concerts, nature walks, expressions of concern--and some cynicism.

From Lithuania to Southern California, Earth Day brought millions of people to street festivals, nature walks and musical concerts Sunday in an exuberant outpouring that was part celebration and part a show of concern for the planet.

Organizers estimated 200 million people in 136 nations joined in the observance, from a rally of more than a million in New York’s Central Park to a dive-for-garbage in Japan and a festival in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park that drew 30,000.

Sunday marked the 20th anniversary of the first Earth Day in the United States, which invigorated and expanded the environmental movement. Paying respect to the environment, thousands flocked to festivities Sunday on bicycle, on skate board and on foot rather than drive a polluting vehicle for the day.

“If Earth Day does nothing else, it will . . . give the clear message to politicians that millions of people are aware of the problems facing the Earth and what needs to be done about it,” said Andrew Lees of the British branch of Friends of the Earth.

Although many Earth Day celebrants appeared more interested in the music than the message, the environmental agenda was hammered home in inventive educational exhibits everywhere.

At Cal State Long Beach, a mock rain forest complete with live two-foot-long Amazon reptiles and multicolored parrots dramatized the need to conserve the world’s tropical forests.

At a 17-block environmental exposition in New York City, robots made of discarded junk--including a mechanical barking dog whose head previously held the gasoline on a moped bike--demonstrated the value of recycling.

At a festival in Malibu Bluffs Community Park, a mannequin with a globe hanging from it symbolized the fragility of the planet. The display was titled: “Hanging by a Thread From a Three-Piece Suit.”

Jessica Frombach, for one, seemed to understand the point of it all. In honor of Earth Day, the 11-year-old Huntington Beach girl said she switched from using aerosol hair spray to a pump-activated formula.

“It’s the same stuff, only the pump doesn’t pollute,” said Jessica, attending an Earth Day event in Orange County. “I wanted to do something.”

Debra Shefi, 8, singing in an Earth Day children’s choir at Cal State Long Beach, also seemed to get the message.

Watching another child kicking flowers, the Long Beach girl admonished: “Hey, it’s Earth Day! You shouldn’t be real mean to the plants or the animals.”

Some conservationists complained that President Bush has yet to get the point, however. Bush, who was fishing in Florida, strongly hinted on Sunday that he would ban oil drilling off the Florida coast, but his aides then warned that Bush’s decision on offshore drilling in California would be “more mixed.”

“It’s terrific for people in Florida,” said Christina Desser, Earth Day executive director and a California conservationist, “but when 55% of people in (a recent) poll said they thought it was too dangerous to go ahead with, the President isn’t listening to what the people have to say about this issue.”

“We have for a long time said no outer continental shelf drilling off the coast of California. It’s just too risky.”

In honor of Earth Day, Bush telephoned a member of a U.S-Soviet-Chinese team scaling Mt. Everest and spoke with organizers at an environmental rally at Columbia River Gorge in Washington state. “Focusing on Earth Day allows us all to build on our successes and to recognize that more needs to be done,” the President said.

The President’s telephone calls failed to impress environmental activists participating in a rally that drew 350,000 to the National Mall in Washington, where Bush’s absence was mocked with a life-size cardboard cutout of him propped atop the stage.

The presence of entertainers Tom Cruise, Richard Gere, John Denver and Olivia Newton-John may have helped attract much of the crowd, but the biggest applause of the day went to John O’Connor, an asbestos victim and leader of the National Toxics Campaign.

O’Connor told the thousands that he grew up near an asbestos dump. Ten of the children on his block got cancer, he said, and five have already died from it. “I did not become an environmentalist by choice,” declared O’Connor, who is now in his 40s.

In Huntington Beach, Earth Day observances included a noontime rally calling for the closure of an offshore marine terminal where 394,000 gallons of oil spilled from the tanker American Trader and onto miles of beach in February. The terminal, about 1.3 miles southwest of the city’s pier, is used to deliver petroleum through undersea pipelines to mainland refineries.

“That facility must be closed forever to prevent another tragedy,” said Hank Watkins, referring to the Feb. 7 spill, one of the worst environmental disasters in county history. “We’re just rolling the dice every time a tanker pulls up. We had 30 years of good luck. Then we rolled snake eyes. It could happen again.”

In Garden Grove, James Lentz, the executive director of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, told about 2,000 worshipers at the Crystal Cathedral to let Earth Day be a “turning point” and not a one-day observance that “people will go home and forget.”

“We hope it’s the resurrection,” added Lentz, appearing at TV evangelist Robert H. Schuller’s nationally broadcast Earth Day service.

In New York, celebrations began on Times Square, where a hushed, almost reverent crowd gathered under clear, sunny skies in the morning to watch a huge balloon depicting Earth hoisted aloft from a stage covered with greenery.

Several blocks around Times Square were closed to traffic, and the air was noticeably cleaner than usual. “There’s no fumes,” said a 33-year-old native New Yorker. “I have never been in Times Square before when you could take a deep breath and not smell exhaust.”

About 50 Cree Indians kayaked down the Hudson River from Canada to participate in the festivities, which included jazz music interspersed with the recorded calls of the threatened Northern spotted owl.

At a daylong environmental exposition held on 17 blocks of Manhattan closed to traffic, vendors appealed to New Yorkers to buy giant Sequoia seedlings at $3 each and organic composted manure. An artist displayed clothes that actually sprouted grass. Burlap sacks were placed on streets corners for trash that organizers said would be recycled later.

Crowning the New York festivities was a concert and rally in Central Park that, according to police and organizers, attracted an estimated 1 million to 1.5 million people, said to be the largest gathering there since the Simon and Garfunkel reunion concert in the early 1980s.

Entertainers included Ben E. King, the B-52’s, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians and Hall and Oates. “There’s over a million of us here today,” exhorted a member of the B-52’s. “Why don’t we start voting for environmental politicians. We have the power, let’s use it.”

Against a backdrop of calm seas, spiraling long-tailed kites and rock and roll music, more than 35,000 people flocked to Santa Monica Pier, making it one of the biggest Earth Day events in Los Angeles County.

Swaying to music performed on a stage festooned with colored flags and a banner asking “Who says we can’t change the world?” thousands of participants munched on organically grown fruit and vegetables sold from booths erected on the strand.

The loudest cheers of the day went to a pair of teen-age mutant Ninja turtles, which came to kick off a campaign to teach children and adults alike that it is “uncool” to dump trash in storm drains that flow into the sea.

At an Earth Day festival at the Eaton Canyon Nature Center in Pasadena, a band turned the song “Five Hundred Miles” into an environmental ditty.

“Dump your motor oil today and just watch it roll away, seep into the ground and stay . . . 500 years.”

Despite all the hoopla, there were those who paid little heed to Earth Day.

In the San Fernando Valley’s Woodley Park, a classic-car show drew more people than a nearby Earth Day celebration.

“Here we are with all these gas-guzzlers, but at least they’re just sitting there on Earth Day and not running all over the country polluting things,” said Carol Ann Cook, a classic car aficionado.

An estimated 1,000 visitors went to see the cars compared to 300 who showed up to take nature walks, help plant an oak tree and hold hands during a minute of silence for the Earth at the nearby Earth Day festival.

At Exposition Park in Los Angeles, where an estimated 30,000 people turned out for speeches, music and picnics, Lavern Kuyoro, 40, was cynical about the celebration.

Sitting on grass in front of a stage she said: “I don’t think the majority are here because of ecology. They’re here because of the entertainment.”

Kuyoro said Earth Day will not change her habits. She said, for instance, she still plans to use plastic trash bags. “I’m more concerned with people,” Kuyoro said. “To tell the truth, I think it’s a little too late (for the planet).”

Apparently Earth Day did not change a lot of others’ habits either.

“It’s going to be 4:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. before the state can get Exposition Park cleaned up,” said a Los Angeles police lieutenant who asked not to be quoted by name. “The place is totally, totally trashed. I worked there for six hours today. Then I came back to Santa Monica where I live. It took me 1 1/2 hours to get to my house. All the roads were jammed. There were 35,000 on the beach. That place was totally a mess, too.”

In Chicago, some traditional targets of environmental activists defiantly distributed their wares at a festival attended by as many as 75,000 people along a beach at Lincoln Park.

A booth sponsored by Keim Furs was adorned with signs that said: “Save the Earth, Wear a Fur” and “Wearing a Fur Isn’t the Solution to Pollution but It’s a Step in the Right Direction.”

Although many passers-by looked at the display in disgust, its sponsor didn’t seem to mind.

“We’re sick and tired of them (environmentalists) shoving their views down our throats,” said William Morehouse, 33, assistant furrier at Keim furs. “Now it’s time to give some back.”

At Malibu Bluffs Community Park, the spirit was more in keeping with the theme of the day. Chumash Indians performed traditional Indian dances and other Earth Day celebrants set up booths to push wind power technology, biodegradable cleaning products and investments in environmentally responsible companies.

“I never really paid attention to the environment,” said Caroline Vergon, 23, a student at Pasadena City College who was enjoying the festivities. “I never really thought to get involved. This has shown me that I can do something. I’m going to start being careful now.”

At Malibu’s Surfrider Beach, about 50 people scooped up several dozen bags of litter to the delight of maintenance worker Arnoldo Delcid, who cleans the beaches on non-Earth Days. “I wish they were here everyday,” marvelled the 48-year-old maintenance worker.

In San Diego, tens of thousands of people celebrated Earth Day with an EarthFair at Balboa Park that featured more than 200 exhibitors--ranging from environmental groups and political parties to a fashion consulting company helping executive women best choose their flattering colors.

“Earth tones aren’t any more popular than the other colors,” said a saleswoman, “but our pitch is that at least we didn’t use animals to test them.”

In San Francisco, officials said 50,000 people gathered at Crissy Field at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area for one of the Bay Area’s biggest Earth Day observances. Music was provided by top recording artists including the Jefferson Airplane, Clarence Clemons, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and Devo.

“It’s a fling but I hope it turns into a long-term commitment. I hope people don’t wake up Monday morning and forget about their love affair with Earth,” said Erin McCormick, 25, a San Francisco State University student.

Across the bay in Oakland, more than 1,000 people linked hands and circled Lake Merritt to show concern for the environment. The lake has been cleaned up after suffering for years from neglect and pollution.

One of the most popular Earth Day events--both in the United States and around the world--was tree planting. In Manila, Filipino environmentalists planted herbal medicine plants while volunteers in Uganda put in rows of fast-growing trees to provide firewood for rural communities.

Celebrants around the world also paid heed to the global waste crisis and other environmental problems.

In Japan, divers pulled garbage from the seas. To emphasize the problem of waste disposal on the island nation, about 35,000 people gathered on an artificial island in Tokyo Bay built from the city’s garbage and set up a temporary facility for recycling tin cans.

Students in Gdansk, Poland bicycled through the Baltic port’s Old Town to protest air pollution, and in Vilnius, Lithuania, which has been hit by a Soviet cutoff of energy supplies, environmentalists on bicycles, roller skates and other motorless vehicles marched through the capital.

At the Berlin Wall, East Germans gathered to view exhibits and celebrate their newly won freedom to openly raise environmental concerns.

In many ways, Earth Day was actually an Earth Month. For the last 30 days, corporations, private individuals, academic institutions and nonprofit organizations had been anticipating Sunday.