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July 30 Go to RideforClimate.com to follow alongThere are new posts at our website -- www.RideforClimate.com So please check it out to see the latest blog entry, video or photo of our journey. And don't forget to sign up on the homepage to receive email updates about once every two weeks! July 07 Crossing South DakotaLeaving Minnesota and crossing into South Dakota, the land became drier and more sparsely populated, and towns were less frequent. We still saw many fields of wheat and corn, but grazing land became more common. We passed through many small towns, and learned that most of the towns are far smaller than they used to be, as fewer farmers are now needed to farm the same amount of land. Crossing South Dakota, we expected to find resistance to our message. For some reason, people who are more conservative are less likely to trust the science of global warming, and South Dakota is fairly conservative. How did people respond when we asked them ‘what do people around here think about global warming?’ One woman, a schoolteacher (the wife of a farmer who gave us a tour of his farm and who is shown right), told us that people here are starting to take the issue seriously. In one small town of 100 people, another woman remarked that summers and winters are far warmer than they used to be. Without us telling her what we were doing, she added ‘must be global warming - it’s affecting us too.’ And we found this many places – people are starting to believe it’s for real. Yet many others gave a reply like the owner of one gas station, who flatly said ‘We are conservative here, we don’t believe it’ (I am unclear on this reasoning). The owner of a bike store in Pierre said that we are just seeing a ‘natural cycle’ and that there was nothing we could do about it (both not true). And, if you look at the article about our trip in the Rapid City Journal, take a look at the comments (readers can comment on the online article) and you can see plenty of resistance. Most people, though, seem to be like people everywhere else – confused about the basic ideas of global warming. The owner of a steak house, after hearing what we were doing said, ‘that’s a big issue - who do you believe?’ One man argued that he sees smog in cities, and not in South Dakota, so they didn’t have to do anything in South Dakota (smog has very little to do with global warming). One woman, when we told her about our project, looked up in the sky and said ‘it’s too bad when there is a hole in the environment,’ which, we think, was referring to the ozone layer (many people confuse global warming with ozone depletion - they are in fact very different issues). My favorite was an older rancher who, after telling us some jokes, said it is getting warmer due to ‘earth warming,’ but had no explanation for what ‘earth warming’ is. I guess that it is to be expected that people are confused on this issue – it is a complicated issue (and, there have been large campaigns to confuse people). Bill is convinced that we need some type of national education program on the issue, to help communicate the basic ideas of global warming – what do you think about this? We should note that no one was hostile to us – in fact, most people were exceptionally friendly. The restaurant owner who seemed skeptical still ended up giving us dinner when he heard we were biking across the country. The gas station owner had a long friendly conversation with us. We departed South Dakota via the badlands and the black hills – a scenic finish to the state. Check out photos here. July 03 Tune into 'Despierta Ameirca' tomorrow morningTomorrow morning (Wed July 4th), at about 8:30 AM eastern time, I will appear on ‘Despierta America,’ a morning show on Univision. Univision is the nation’s largest Spanish speaking network (yes, the interview will be in Spanish), and, if you get any Spanish TV, you likely get this channel (the network claims 40 million viewers worldwide). The interview should be about both my last trip through Latin America, as well as Ride for Climate USA. So, tune in, especially if you want to see me encouraging people to switch to energy efficient bulbs in Spanish! Bill and I also just crossed the border with Wyoming, and are taking a short lunch break to get out of the heat - stay tuned for our next entry on crossing South Dakota (and of course what South Dakotans think of global warming….). July 01 Rapid City NewspaperWe give talks along the route, but we also try to get into the media. This helps get the message about global warming out beyond the people who come to our talks. Here's a nice piece that came out in Friday's Rapid City Journal. June 28 Heading West Into South DakotaWe've just passed 2,000 miles as we head into Rapid City, South Dakota. It's getting hot, but it's something we better get used to since global warming will bring us more hot summer days. While most people we've met say the summers are getting hotter and the winters are getting milder, very few people seem to understand how much control we have over our future. We can have a world that is a little warmer or a world that is a lot hotter and the choice is ours. We need to act now if we want to avoid a crisis for our children and grandchildren. The good news is that people are starting to wake up to the problem and take action. A number of major corporations and environmental organizations have signed on to support federal legislation that will address global warming. This is similar to legislation that California's Governornator signed into law in 2006. Recently the Senate signed on to better fuel economy for cars, pick-ups and SUVs by 2020. Your legislators need to hear from you if we want them to keep up this good work. You can find your legislators (2 Senators and your Representative) here by typing in your zip code. Tell them you care about global warming and want them to address it. Be nice and as specific as possible. Ask them to take leadership in promoting energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Change starts with each of us. June 19 Madison Montage...20%Here is our latest video - a montage of biking across Wisconsin. Check it out! (Or, for more info, visit our 'official website' rideforclimate.com) Ride for Climate - Crossing Wisconsin June 15 Ride for Climate in Madison, WI
We have just left Madison, WI, and are headed west on our bikes. Madison Wisconsin has some of the best bikeways I have ever seen. The biking here is excellent, and a incredible number of people bike to work or use the bicycle as transportation. It is great to see, and it makes me ask, why not do this in more communities? Doesn’t it feel great when you are able to bike to work? You are healthier, you save money, and, of course, you don’t add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Why not demand better bikeways? The video below (really a ‘music video’) says it better. Click and watch.
Ride for Climate in Madison, WI What is Ride for Climate USA?Starting last April 21st, Bill Bradlee and I, David Kroodsma, are biking across the U.S. to promote action on global warming. Our website is www.rideforclimate.com. Why would we do this? Bill said it well on an earlier post on our blog: Why would we give up good jobs and a paycheck, leave our homes and hit the road for months? We believe global warming (climate change) is a problem so important that we need to tell people about it and inspire action. Scientists tell us we need to act soon if we are to avoid the most severe consequences. Yet, global warming is a complex problem that some prefer to ignore because it’s too complicated or disturbing. Or perhaps they do not believe global warming is a problem created by humans that can be solved by humans. Also, I believe that American citizens are in a great position to make a difference about global warming. The U.S. produces more carbon dioxide than any other country, and our per person emissions are among the world’s highest. Also, our country is seen as a world leader. All this means that if you are an American, your actions to fight global warming have a huge impact. Let’s make a difference. Visit our website, or read some of our most recent blog entries: Biking in Madison ~ June 12th Biking with the Mayor of Madison ~ June 12th Notes on Wisconsin ~ June 12th Fort Atkinson, WI - Our First Vlog ~ June 7th Chicago ~ June 5th Michigan Interfaith Power & Light ~ June 2nd Visiting the Sisters of Monroe, Michigan ~ June 1st Toledo ~ May 22nd June 10 About Ride for Climate: The AmericasA little bit more about Ride for Climate The Americas…. Starting in November of 2005, I biked from California to the southern end of South America. It was only me, my bicycle, and four panniers worth of equipment. The journey lasted 17 months and covered almost 16,000 miles.  I biked for a simple reason: I wanted people to become more aware of global warming. I studied and researched global warming (more specifically the carbon cycle) before the journey, and, as I traveled, I wrote about what was at risk due to global warming on this journey, and I also visited schools and appeared in the media. There is no easy way to summarize this journey, except to say that it exceeded all of my expectation. I have put some of the best photos on this live spaces page, and these will give you a bit of the idea of the trip. The best, though, would be to read some of my travel summaries.
3-6-2006
Travel Summary - Mexico
 And what is at risk due to global warming? Water problems, deadly storms, agricultural losses, rising sea level, heat waves, and major extinctions on land and in the oceans, to name a few. What is most important to realize, though, is that the effects will be felt both in your back yard, and at the far end of the earth. We are all in this together - it doesn't matter if you drive a car in Wisconsin (where I currently am) or at the far end of South America, it adds carbon dioxide to the planet, and makes a warmer planet for everyone. June 06 What is Ride for Climate?Visit Ride for Climate The Americas and Ride for Climate USA Almost two years ago, I left my home in Palo Alto, California and started bicycling south. I biked solo most of the way and carried all my gear -- clothes, tools, tent, sleeping bag, food and water -- on my bicycle. I crossed Mexico, Central America, and then took a boat to South America, where I kept biking until I biked as far south as one could bike – nearly 16,000 miles and 17 months after I began.  I biked because I want us to pay more attention to the international consequences of global warming. I have a masters in environmental science, and also worked as a researcher studying the topic. Global warming will affect everyone on the planet - from your back yard to the southern end of South America. This trip was Ride for Climate The Americas, and you can read more about it on this website. Now, I am back in the U.S., and have teamed up with another global warming expert to bicycle across the United States to encourage action on global warming. We are giving talks on energy efficiency and renewable energy, and asking people to make a difference. There are good solutions, but we need to take action now. We started in Boston on April 21st and began biking west (see our route map). We are now in Wisconsin, and will continue on to the west coast over the next few months. This project is Ride for Climate USA, and you can visit our site to learn more about it. On this Live Spaces blog, we are going to spend the next few weeks summarizing events from my last journey 16,000 miles across Latin America as well as events in the U.S. journey up to this point. Once we have done that, we will post entries as we travel across the west. So, follow us here, or visit our website. |
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