300 Miles on my Bike: Testing My Body in a World of Extreme Weather

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 What was the hardest part about pedaling a bike 300 miles from Manhattan to Washington, D.C.? The head winds in central New Jersey certainly weren’t a picnic. The horse poop along Amish country roads was a challenge. Then there were the rain-slippery bridges near St. Peter’s Village, PA and the seemingly endless hills of Maryland’s northern horse country. 

But honestly, the rural scenery was so stunningly beautiful all along the way that the hardest part was just knowing that this pastoral east-coast landscape is in danger of disappearing – soon – because of the unfolding calamity of climate change.

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Virginians Rally at SCC Against Dominion's Dirty Plans

Fifteen years is a long time.  Fifteen years ago, “Married with Children” aired its final new episode on Fox. Fifteen years ago, Mike Tyson tried to bite Evander Holyfield’s ear off in the middle of a boxing match. Fifteen years ago, Prodigy was still in the internet-provider business. Remember them? Didn’t think so.

The point is, 15 years is a long time. So when Dominion Virginia Power presented its plans for the next 15 years of energy production to the SCC, we were curious. When we found out that the plans had NO land-based or off-shore wind and a negligible amount of Virginia-made solar power, our curiosity turned into varying degrees of frustration. So we organized. And you came. Together, we rallied. And it was awesome!

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Virginia Students "Connect the Dots" on Climate Impacts Day

 

–Cross-posted at WeArePowershift.org

Last Saturday, 350.org and other similarly-minded groups organized a Climate Impacts Day (climatedots.org), where activists throughout the country “connected the dots” between climate change and its associated impacts. The Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) coordinated with many of these activists in Maryland and Virginia to facilitate their events. In Virginia, CCAN worked with student groups to highlight important climate sources and impacts on or near their campuses.  

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W&M Students Protest Outside Bank of America

 

-Crossposted at WeArePowershift.org

Students at the College of William and Mary assembled at a Bank of America location in Williamsburg, VA on May 1 to protest the bank’s funding of mountaintop removal. Alongside local activists, the students waved signs and chanted outside the building, while participants with Bank of America cards went inside to close their accounts. A couple members of the group simulateneously handed out fliers at nearby businesses. As the location was along a major thoroughfare, the protesters frequently heard supportive honks from passing cars and observed locals curiously reading their signs. After spending a couple hours spreading awareness, the activists dispersed, pleased with their work and eager to do more.

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Climate Dots Connect Across MD this Saturday

 

This Saturday 5/5/12, people across Maryland and the world will take action to “connect the dots” between climate change, extreme weather and other climate impacts that are already affecting our lives. Organized by 350.org, Climate Impacts Day is shaping up to be another powerful demonstration of the grassroots determination to spur global action on this most urgent of global crises.

Here in Maryland we got off to an early start with our efforts to connect the dots when I traveled to Annapolis this week to chat with hardcore, Annapolis-based sailor Matt Rutherford.

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