Jour de la Terre
In 1990, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, Furia assembled The Earth Day 20 Foundation, a group for which Senator Gaylord Nelson (the original founder of Earth Day) was honorary chairman. Furia highlighted the Earth Day 20 activities on April 22 in George, Washington with two live satellite phone calls. The first call was with members of the historic Earth Day 20 International Peace Climb (it was the first time in history that mountaineers from the United States, Soviet Union and China had roped together to climb a mountain), who called from their base camp on Mount Everest to pledge their support for world peace and attention to environmental issues. The second call was with President George H.W. Bush, who spoke directly to Furia and the assembled crowd about his support the Earth Day. Months earlier, Furia visited The White House to witness Bush's signing ceremony for the 20th Earth Day Proclamation, declaring Earth Day a national holiday for the first time.