Rabbi Daniel Lapin shared the true story of why Earth Day started on his show this week.

Politician and Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson misused public funds to promote Earth Day, which was a communist-influenced scheme to hobble the U.S. economy, Rabbi Lapin asserted.

“Who gave him permission to use his Senate staff and funding and the office of the United States Senate to promote a personal religious agenda?” he asked.

While progressives may try to deny it, Earth Day has roots in Soviet communism. The inaugural Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970—a date that marked the 100th birthday of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, Rabbi Lapin explained.

People like Nelson believed that the economy should always come second to environmentalism. When the American economy was booming, the environmental movement was started as an insidious way to cripple it, Rabbi Lapin asserted.

“A lot of people think it’s far-fetched to say that the entire environmental movement, the entire climate change movement had its roots in the KGB, but as a matter of fact, that is absolutely true,” Rabbi Lapin said. “It is what happened.”

Listen to more episodes of Rabbi Daniel Lapin at TheBlaze Contributors.