Mike Fernandez, senior vice president of Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability, Enbridge

Earth Day 2021 marks our 51st opportunity as a society to pause and reflect on the state of our environment.

When Earth Day formally began in 1970, it was a unifying event for our nation and the globe.

In the United States, 20 million people (10 percent of our population at the time) took to the streets, parks and auditoriums to lend their voice to a sustainable future.

They enlisted support from rural and urban, rich and poor, Republican and Democrat, people of all races, farmers, businesses and labor. The goal was to work together to promote the values of efficiency and sustainability for future growth.

We must tap into the spirit of that first Earth Day, looking at how far we have come while steadfast on where we can be.

Two billion people will join the middle class, and there will be another 1.7 billion living in urban areas throughout the world. Growing renewables is critical, as is reducing emissions from traditional energy systems, such as oil and natural gas.

Undeniably, the world wants and needs reduced carbon and sustainable energy sources.

Realistically, the solution lies in leveraging all forms of energy and using the technology that makes us more efficient at producing and delivering it.

Enbridge is working to make that happen. In Michigan, we are building the Great Lakes Tunnel as a sustainable way to ensure energy is delivered reliably and safely, while protecting the waters of Lake Michigan and Huron for Michiganders now, and generations to come.

As we look back on the unifying message of that first Earth Day, we welcome partners from all walks of life to join us.

Together, we can be a critical part of energy’s future solution, continuing to build the bridge to sustainability that started more than 50 years ago.

Editor’s note: Mike Fernandez is senior vice president of Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability at Enbridge.