Individual aided in the inauguration of the initial Earth Day celebrations

Fifty-five years ago, on April 22, 1970, the world was a smoky mess with rivers burning and air unbreathable. It was high time for a change in perspective on the environment, and Earth Day was born.

The perfect storm of 1962's "Silent Spring" exposing the harm DDT causes for humans, coupled with the devastating January 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, Calif., and the activist spirit of the 1960s' anti-war and Civil Rights movements, ignited a nationwide call to arms for Mother Earth.

On this day of mass action, Bruce Justin Miller, a new marine ecology doc at the University of New Hampshire, helped lead the charge alongside UNHITE (University of New Hampshire for Improving the Environment) and special guest Stewart Udall, former secretary of the Interior. The crew hosted an environmental teach-in, but they sure as hell weren't prepared for the tidal wave of 15,000 activists that descended upon the quaint town of Durham, New Hampshire.

"Hell's bells, we had no idea it would blow up like this," Miller, now a part-time Volcano resident at the ripe age of 83, reminisced about being front and center on the first Earth Day. With trash piling up left and right, a new concept for the era took shape - picking up after themselves - and the crew guided protestors to do just that.

By the day's end, the literal mountain of garbage collected sent a powerful message: not only about the extent of the problem, but also about the potential solution. "It transitioned from talking about it to making people take action," Miller explained. "The realization of the issues we face, the threats to reefs and animals, it all came crashing down on me. I knew I had to protect those things."

Miller's career took a turn from his research roots in New Hampshire to paths that included running the University of Hawaii Manoa’s Sea Grant Extension Service in 1982, establishing the Office of Sustainability there in the 1990s, and helming it until his 2007 retirement. Along the way, he mentored future Sen. Brian Schatz and authored Hawaii's groundbreaking 1989 ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) regulation law.

By leapfrogging from Hawaii to the global stage with the Montreal Protocol's adoption that same year, Miller's trailblazing legislation led to a massive CFC phase-out by Congress in 1990, recognition of the human impact on the ozone layer, a 50% reduction in CFC emissions by 1996, and a cover story on the topic in Time Magazine. Not too shabby for a marine ecologist who once got caught off guard by trash-picking protestors.

"It felt damn good to see tangible progress after all those years of tireless work," Miller mused about the enlightened 90s and early 2000s. "But now, things are backsliding. We've got to figure out how to stop this."

Miller's environmental compass has been spinning wildly under the Trump administration. Pro-pollution policies include the U.S. Department of Agriculture's early April order allowing increased timber harvesting across 113 million acres of national forests, and a nationwide mandate for a 25% increase in timber felling. There's also the proposed rule change to the Endangered Species Act that would effectively exclude habitat destruction and modification from the definition of "harm."

But that's not all - Trump's got his sights set on Miller's own backyard, the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument sanctuary, opening it up to commercial fishing. "Tough break for everyone involved, except for the corporate whales who don't give two shits about endangered species," Miller succinctly put it.

Adding insult to injury, staffing cuts and budget reductions to the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Parks Service have been slashed, and essential weather monitoring stations have been shuttered - like the one on Hawaii's Mauna Loa, which has been documenting CO2 levels since the 1950s.

Miller sees the devaluation of ecological stewardship under the current administration as a reckless step back in time. Citing the 1968 book "The Population Bomb" by Paul Ehrlich, which forewarned of the environmental crisis worsening alongside an ever-growing human population, Miller insisted that the simultaneous dismantling of resource management guidelines, removal of environmental protections, and pro-natalist policies amount to a disastrous setback in the fight for the planet's future.

"Welcome to 2023 and double the population we had in 1970. Add rapid climate change into the mix, and we're cooking up a catastrophe much worse than the one we were battling back in '70," Miller predicts.

In his crusade to restore a healthy planet, Miller points to the need for a new leadership that honors the world we share above pure monetary profit and short-sighted politics. "We need to keep striving for cleaner air, tackle plastic pollution, and do whatever it takes to curb these environmental threats - and that requires a government with the right damn values," Miller declared.

"We gottaboot these douchebags out and elect a government that actually gives a damn about saving the environment," Miller said. "If we don't make that happen, we're doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past."

Bruce Justin Miller, who led environmental activism on the first Earth Day in 1970, was surprised by the scale of the demonstration, with 15,000 activists descending upon the town of Durham, New Hampshire.
After witnessing the massive turnout and the mountain of garbage collected, Miller realized the extent of environmental issues and his duty to protect aquatic life.
Miller's career evolved from marine ecology to spearheading sustainability initiatives, including the establishment of the Office of Sustainability at the University of Hawaii Manoa.
In the 1990s, Miller's legislation led to a significant reduction in CFC emissions, contributing to progress in reducing the harmful impact on the ozone layer.
Under the Trump administration, Miller believes there has been a reversal in environmental policies, with increased timber harvesting, proposals to modify the Endangered Species Act, and cuts to budgets and staffing at agencies like the EPA and the National Parks Service.
In the face of these policy changes and rapid climate change, Miller warns of a potential environmental crisis that could be worse than the one faced in the 1970s, calling for a new leadership that prioritizes environmental stewardship over profit and short-sighted politics.