Several ambassadors from around the world, green energy, climate and bike advocates, and everyday folks are meeting the Climate Riders for the last 3-mile pedal up Constitution Ave. to the Capitol.  Amazing speakers and members of Congress will meet us at the Capitol for a good ol’ fashioned bike rally (of the non-motorized variety).  Don’t miss this!  Tell all of your friends.  WE NEED YOU TO BE THERE.  Get the details here.

2) Climate Ride Kicks Off at the Central Park Zoo

Thanks to the Wildlife Conservation Society (one of our Climate Riders, Rob Rose, is a geographer at WCS) we have a fun bike registration and kick off with after hours access to meet Gus and Ida, the Central Park Zoo polar bears.  Speakers include Dr. James Hansen and Denmark’s United Nations Ambassador.

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a proud supporter of Brita Climate Ride.  And at CR, we’re excited to work with an organization that is on the front lines of understanding the effects of climate change on wildlife and wild places around the world.

Here in the U.S., WCS scientists are undergoing a long-term study of the effects of climate change in the Arctic, where birds from five continents come to nest.  WCS scientists helped inform a federal study on polar bears that documented rapidly shrinking habitat for these apex predators.  Learn more about WCS here.

3) Clif Bar offsets all carbon emissions for Climate Riders!

How cool is that!?  Clif Bar & Company is dedicated to reducing its ecological footprint in everything it does - from its commitment to organic ingredients, to using biodiesel vehicles for inter-company shipping and events, to helping events it supports become climate neutral.  By 2007, the natural and organic food company had offset its own decade-long carbon footprint from 1992-2002.  

Clif Bar is aligned closely with the Brita Climate Ride’s efforts to support essential climate and bicycle advocacy projects.  Born itself from its founder’s epiphany on a 175-mile, one-day bike ride, Clif Bar is reducing the eco-impact of the Climate Ride by offsetting the CO2 created from support vehicles and rider travel to and from the event-making the ride a carbon neutral event. Go Clif!

Thanks to our media sponsors:

North American Windpower is the leading magazine and web site serving decision-making professionals involved in any and all aspects of the wind energy generation and distribution business - and the ONLY magazine dedicated to serving the exclusive needs of the North American marketplace. Visit us online at www.nawindpower.com.

Solar Industry is the leading magazine and web site serving professionals involved in all aspects of the solar energy industry. Based in the U.S., Solar Industry is dedicated to the solar energy segment of the renewable energy industry, covering both solar photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies, and focusing on all applications of these technologies, from handheld gadgets to utility-scale solar power plants.  Visit us online at www.solarindustrymag.com.

And of course, HUGE thanks to our Title Sponsor Brita and Presenting Sponsor the Embassy of Denmark and COP15–the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

New to Climate Ride?  See past newsletters on our blog.

The Climate Ride Speaker Series 2009

Friis Arne Petersen - Denmark’s Ambassador to the US, host of the COP15 UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen Dec. 2009

Dr. James Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, renowned climatologist, Time Magazine top 100 influential people, and winner of the 2009 Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal, the highest honor of the American Meteorological Society.

Alisa Gravitz, Executive Director, Green America, For over 25 years, Alisa Gravitz has helped pioneer and lead the national agenda to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable economy.  Alisa helped create the nation’s first Green Business Network and Green Festivals, and developed strategies that use the power of green businesses, consumers and investors to call for clean energy and other economic solutions to climate change. Alisa’s “12 Step Plan for Climate Action” has been used by businesses and policymakers around the world for developing policies that can address the climate crisis at the speed and scale necessary to tackle the worst of the climate change impacts.

Jason Kowalski, Policy Analyst at 1Sky.  Jason will give us the skinny on the ACES bill and what really happens behind the scenes with energy and climate legislation on Capitol Hill.

Colin Beavan aka NO IMPACT MAN - the man who lived one year with zero carbon impact–the extraordinary movie will be previewed on Climate Ride.  Watch the trailer.

Josh Dorfman, The Lazy Environmentalist -watch his new Sundance show.  He’s not too lazy to ride for the climate!

Alison Gannett - Founder Save Our Snow Foundation, voted Outside Magazine’s ‘08 Green All-Stars, US Champ Freeskier

Mike Tidwell - inspiring activist, writer and documentary filmmaker, President Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and his own home is fueled almost entirely by wind, solar and corn power

Bracken Hendricks - Senior Fellow at Center for American Progress; an architect of clean-energy portions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act;  founding executive director of the Apollo Alliance

Wood Turner - the one climate scorekeeper you need to know, Executive Director Climate Counts

Dr. Ben Strauss - director at Climate Central, founding board member of Grist.org and founding director of the Environmental Leadership Program and Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University.

AND MORE!

The youngest rider is a 12 year old from Massachusetts and the oldest rider is an 82 year old woman from NYC who has been a bike commuter for 50 years!