To all past, present and future riders: Why do you Climate Ride? Follow along with us over the next 5 days to learn about the current riders and tweet us your reasons at #climateride! Your tweets will be streaming on our new social dashboard, along with rider photos from the road!
Over the past six years and eight rides, Climate Ride has engaged thousands of people in raising money and awareness for people-powered solutions to climate change and a new energy economy. Our riders come from all walks of life, from more than 30 states, and with ages ranging from 12 to 82. They are professionals, students, scientists, activists, executives, athletes, and ordinary citizens. So what has inspired such a diverse group of people to saddle up and ride over 300 miles through sun and wind and rain and fog, over hills and through forests, up mountains and back down again?
As we prepare to take the first pedal strokes on Climate Ride California 2013 - our 4th annual California ride - we are taking a moment to reflect on and celebrate the many reasons that bring this inspiring group of people together every year to challenge themselves, support causes they believe in, and co-create a positive movement for a sustainable and thriving future.
Particularly as the CO2 concentration in our atmosphere inches above 400 parts-per-million for the first time in eons, we are reminded how much work remains to be done to shift our economies, energy infrastructure, and transportation systems towards more sustainable and regenerative practices. Yet, thanks to the passion and resilience of the more than 50 Climate Ride beneficiary organizations, so much has already been achieved in recent years to create viable and sustainable alternatives - from community-supported renewable energy projects to sustainable business development to climate activism to sustainable transportation and bicycle infrastructure. When you look around, there are solutions everywhere!
Just as we are entering a completely new geological epoch brought about by increasing carbon emissions, we are also in the midst of a flourishing of creative and innovative paths forward. Climate Riders are consistently at the forefront of this emerging movement, working to both create a new future and tell a new positive story of how we do it. And if there is a more fun way to change the world than joining 130 other awesome and inspiring people on a 320-mile climate conference on wheels, we don't know about it!
As Climate Ride board member and five-time Climate Rider Josh Lasky says, "I think the sustainability movement has effectively shifted the focus towards something much more positive, much more compelling that people want to be a part of. Climate Ride, for me, embodies that spirit.…that’s why I keep riding on Climate Ride!“
To all past, present and future riders: Why do you Climate Ride?
Follow along with us over the next 5 days to learn about the current riders and tweet us your reasons at #climateride! Your tweets will be streaming on our new social dashboard, along with rider photos from the road!
A huge Thank You to past rider Brad Heavner of the Climate Protection Campaign for putting these videos together. Here's a message from Brad himself:
"Hey Riders. Here are two video I put together from the footage I took on Climate Ride. I hope you will use them to recruit riders for this year's ride. My idea is that the 4-minute version will be for gatherings where you're recruiting riders among people who are already open to riding. It has longer cycling clips for them to soak in the scenery and speaks to people's reservations. The 2-minute version can be put on websites or sent to a more general audience."
These videos would also be great for potential donors to help them better understand Climate Ride and just how important their donation is. Here are links to the 4-minute version and the 2-minute version.
We would like to welcome the following new beneficiaries that will round out the exceptional list of organizations that riders can select to support while riding in Climate Ride! You can view the full list of 56 beneficiaries here.
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law organization dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. Climate Ride’s contribution will help Earthjustice safeguard public lands, national forests, parks, and wilderness areas; reduce air and water pollution; prevent toxic contamination; preserve endangered species and wildlife habitat; fight the causes and effects of climate change; and defend the right of all people to a healthy environment.
Interfaith Power & Light: The Regeneration Project works to deepen the connection between ecology and faith. Through our Interfaith Power & Light Campaign (IPL) we help congregations address global warming through programs that achieve tangible environmental results. These include helping congregations shrink their carbon footprints and educating hundreds of thousands of people in the pews about the important role of people of faith in addressing this issue. IPL also brings the voice of the faith community into the policy-making arena, working to advance clean energy and to limit carbon pollution. IPL is working to support policy change at the local, state, and national levels.
The Sierra Club Angeles Chapter engages its members and the public in a range of activities to make Los Angeles and Orange Counties more livable. Volunteer activists organize campaigns around everything from land preservation and public transportation to air quality and sustainable consumption. The Sierra Club Angeles Chapter supports more than twenty conservation initiatives supporting the following conservation priorities.
- Preserving open space and promoting land protection to prevent and curtail poorly-planned commercial and residential development.
- Protecting natural resources to promote water conservation and protect local habitats and native species.
- Promoting sustainability to address sustainable energy, smart development and transportation policies, energy efficiency, and livable communities.
The New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition is dedicated to:
PROTECTING the rights and safety of New Jersey bicyclists and walkers
PROMOTING bicycling and walking for fun, fitness, and transportation
EDUCATING bicyclists, walkers, and drivers about our rights and responsibilities
CONNECTING our communities with a smarter transportation system
NJBWC is working to pass a combined Safe Passing Law/Vulnerable Road User Law, also known as the “3 foot law”. New Jersey has the second worst fatality rate in the US for bicyclists and pedestrians, at 26% of all road fatalities. NJBWC is working to reduce this number first by getting this law passed and then by creating education programs for motorists based on this law.
For over 15 years, TransForm has been working to protect the environment while improving the lives of all people by creating world-class public transportation and walkable communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. TransForm was founded by environmental and social justice groups who recognized how the quality of life and environment in the Bay Area were at risk due to poorly planned development and a transportation system focused solely on cars. Over the years, TransForm has won billions of dollars and groundbreaking policies in support of public transportation, smart growth, affordable housing and bicycle/pedestrian safety.
