As I was riding my bike earlier this week, I listened to a **History Channel podcast**.
This week, it focused on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

50 years ago, ecological problems stared us directly in the face: smog blanketed major US cities, the Cuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland caught fire 13 times from industrial discharge, and oil leaked onto the beaches of Santa Barbara and covered the plumage of sea birds. These highly visible environmental impacts were obvious to hippies, recreationalists, and politicians alike. Many people, with different backgrounds and motivations, rallied against these problems and raised awareness for the wider populace. Consequently, 20 million Americans held rallies on Earth Day, and environmentalism entered onto the national stage.

The issues garnered enough attention that President Nixon (R) established some of the most significant environmental regulations of my lifetime: the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act. Strengthened by legislation and 50 years of positive action, we have made great progress on addressing some of the problematic spillovers from our economic progress onto our shared resources.

However, many of our ecological problems now are less visible—and subsequently less obvious—to us: invisible gases of global warming slowly and subtly impacting multiple ecosystems, unseen nutrients and pesticides creating expansive dead zones in our oceans and poisoning our drinking water, and distant corners of our society supporting our consumption patterns and degrading natural resources that are far out of our sight. To help support our prosperity, I was inspired by the podcast to do what I can to keep making positive strides to address the less visible, but no less impactful, environmental concerns in my communities—it made me pedal faster!