And former Democratic Senator Gaylord Nelson has died at the age of 89. Nelson, who also served as governor of Wisconsin, helped found Earth Day in 1970 and was one of the architects of the country’s modern environmental movement. Nelson helped pass the Clear Air and Water Acts, preserve the Appalachian Trail, establish fuel efficiency standards and ban the insecticide DDT. President Clinton awarded Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995. Nelson was also a leading opponent of the Vietnam War. He was one of only three senators who voted against the $700 million appropriation that began the nation’s expanded involvement in Vietnam.