For Molly Bosted, the memory of her son Nelson inspired her to participate in Climate Ride Bear Ears. When he passed away in November of 2017, she made a silent pledge to live a meaningful life in his name. A few years before, he had taken a road trip through Moab and visited Arches National Park and other parks in the area and the amazing photos his friend took of him during that trip are among the most treasured she has of him. They often talked about their values and the importance of purpose in life, so when she came across the Climate Ride website, that pledge came to mind and she signed up for her very first Climate Ride.
Protecting the places she loves
Growing up, Molly’s family often backpacked in the Sierras and visited their small cabin on weekends at Mt. Baldy. As an adult, she became a cycling enthusiast, doing most of her road riding in the local mountains. For years she had been wondering why there were no fundraising rides to benefit the environment. For her, there is nothing better than experiencing the outdoors – the clean(er) air, the quiet, the open sky. She feels a duty to protect that gift in any way she can.
Climate Ride is just one of the ways Molly is working to protect our planet. Through the Climate Ride grants program, she has selected the Sierra Club California. She’s been a member for about 40 years and appreciates their education, advocacy, and lobbying work for the environment. She has also been fortunate to be able to donate to environmental organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and others for decades and strongly believes in making the connection between elected government officials and policy. Though they are not one of her beneficiaries, she’s also been a longtime donor to the California League of Conservation Voters and was a Board member of the LA League of Conservation Voters for six years. Those two organizations endorse political candidates with proven environmental records.
She has also committed herself to take personal actions to reduce her impact. To diminish her ecological footprint she eats less meat, drives a low emission vehicle, uses less plastic, uses less single-use packaging overall, carries a re-useable utensil kit with her, and talks to people she interacts with about climate change, so it becomes part of everyday dialogue. She works in the entertainment industry and tries not to shame coworkers into boycotting the single-use coffee maker in the kitchen, but sometimes she can’t help herself!
Working together to fight climate change
Living in Southern California, Molly spent many years road riding through the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains. The increasingly powerful fires have incinerated much of the terrain there that she loves. Also, many of her friends and coworkers have suffered losses. The air too, particularly nearest ports and freeways, has been impacted by vehicles and trucks and cargo ship emissions. Those impacts are why this coming Saturday, she will be volunteering at a gathering of activists seeking to learn from their state Senator about existing and pending environmental legislation. To her, it is more and more obvious that a good candidate is one who doesn’t take money from the fossil-fuel industry. Part of living that meaningful life means joining with others to defend the planet we love. Her activist group has letter writing parties, holds fundraisers and educational forums and she is looking forward to meeting others who are engaged in fighting climate change on her ride in Bears Ears. We can’t wait to bike with you, Molly!