Earth Day 2015: Let's not loose track of the progress we have made

It is Earth Day and as with any annual observance, it gives one time to pause and reflect on where we have come and where we are going.  We most certainly have some major issues to deal with in terms of Earth stewardship, human accelerated climate change, ocean acidification, and deforestation come to mind, but we can also take some solace in knowing that when we put our minds to it, we can CHANGE.

I was born into one of the worst environmental moments in human history, the 1960s.  The image to the right is of the US Steel plant in my home town of Cleveland, Ohio disgorging massive amounts of waste into the Cuyahoga River.  The pollution got so bad that the river caught on fire in 1969.  I was five years old.  At the time you would have been hard pressed to find a fish anywhere in the lower Cuyahoga and the fish there were in Lake Eire, you probably didn't want to eat.  It wasn't only the water that was of concern, I remember driving into downtown and seeing the orange-brown haze hanging over the Flats, generated by the steel plant furnaces.  Scary to think that we were breathing that stuff every day.  This was also the time that the first strong voices calling for clean air and clean water were beginning to be heard, think Rachel Carson, "Silent Spring", 1962.  It took not only a few strong voices, but the collective will of a community to reassess its priorities and put an end such thoughtless disregard for the impacts of our lives on the world we lived in.  Out of this movement was board the Clean Water Act and the Clean Act which drew a line in the sand on what could be spewed from our factories.

We have come a very long way since my childhood.  The image to left is of the Cuyahoga today.  Not only is the waterfront an attractive place for paddling, dinning, and summer concerts, Lake Eire and its rivers are now a sports fishing destination!  Check out the ODNR fishing web site and its Fish Ohio Recognition Program, record fish tracked across 20 species.  The charter and guide business is doing well once again along the shores of Erie.  

This brings me to another key point, often environmental protection is viewed as anti-business, due to the regulation and restrictions imposed on companies.  I contest that if you take the long view, it actually quite the reverse. The human economy is an integral part of the ecosystem we call Earth.  We need it to be health and function just as much as we need clean air and water.  If one studies ecosystems, it can be seen that a healthy ecosystem is one that is in balance.  Business benefit from a healthy environment in many ways.  Production costs are lower if you have access to abundant clean water.  A labor force is easier to attract when the community has clean air, water and quality outdoor spaces.  Whole industries can blossom and thrive around well managed natural resources (tourism, sport fishing, recreation, to name a few).

So on this Earth Day 2015, pause to look over your shoulder and be thankful for all the progress we have made, and tomorrow use that knowledge to motivate you and those around you to continue to be stewards of this place we call Earth and work toward solutions for this generations eco-challenges.