When I was a kid, the EPA was formed as our environment was going to hell.

Lake Erie had caught fire, the air over major cities like New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco etc were unhealthy not to mention looking like crap.

We started learning more and more about the effect of various chemicals on our bodies and the whole ecosystem.

Richard Nixon created the EPA in 1970 to address these problems and many more. The people knew that we had to do sometime or we would lose species after species.

Our national symbol was struggling due to pesticides thinning the shells of their eggs. After decades of hard work, sacrifice, and legal protection/action the bald eagles started to rebuild in numbers.

I did not see my first bald eagle in the wild until about fifteen years ago. I was taking my son out along a local river and there it was flying upstream. I was stunned at the sight and quite excited.

The other day as I was driving home over the Columbia River something caught my peripheral vision. I looked over and the was a bald eagle flying along beside me about 50 feet away from the bridge. It didn’t take long before it was joined by another eagle.  The feathers on the head and tail were gleaming white. They flew together in the winds making their way upstream.

I do not think that I would have had a chance to enjoy this sight if it were not for the concern and hard work of the multitudes of good people.

Here at this same time, there are efforts to dismantle the EPA. They want to delist many species. It seems to be in favor of corporate interests time and time again. Yes, all life on this planet only has so much time to exist. Why not make our time as wonderful as possible?

Keep an eye on what the government is up to. We have to do what is right for the animals, people, and the planet, not just business.