No Impact Man

Respecting commitment

So yeah, that's me at the end of Climate Ride in front of the capitol on the day that Senators Boxer and Kerry introduced the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act into the Senate in an attempt to mitigate climate change (I was physically able to do part but not all of it).

But what I wanted to talk about is how it is people like the folks who rode 300 miles from New York City to Washington, DC who are real leaders when it comes to climate.

These are people--as young as 13 and as old as 80--who committed five entire days of their lives to riding 300 miles to raise funds for climate change organizations and to bring attention to the issues. Perhaps 120 people might not seem a lot to you, but it is.

Think of the person-hours.

That's 120 x 5 days x 24 hours = 14,400.

That's like 14,400 people turning out for a one hour protest.

And whatever you think about the environmental politics, you have to admire that these people are willing to sacrifice for what they believe in. Most of them will never be personally affected by climate change.

Yet, because they believe that climate change will cause vast amounts of human suffering, they rode their bikes through the wind and rain from New York to Washington.

Does it make a difference?

These people are giving. They are demonstrating their care.

It makes a difference to me. I hope it does to you, too.

I'm so proud of this group that I'm listing all of their names. What a wonderful bunch of people. Please thank them, if you wouldn't mind, in the comments.

Adam	Burrows
Bernard	Brennan
David	Campbell
Randy	Swisher
Carla	Maggiora
Daniel	Garofalo
Alexander	Grushow
Jenny	Nordstrom
Dean	Fesette
Blake	Rubin
Daniel	Mira-Salama
Brent	Drewry
Jennifer	Peters
Theresa	Ende
Betty	Bell
Marcus	Schmidt
Stephanie	Goodell
Yvonne	Doerre
Fernando	Migliassi
Heather	Lisle
Laura	Johnston
Annie	Bigwood
Patrick	Heidingsfelder
Jenny	Cooper
Jean	Sideris
Uwe	Steckhan
Courtney	Wilson
William	Christopher
Benjamin	Brennan
Benjamin	Walden
Mike	Brown
Neil	Sproul
Megan	Crider
Thomas	Burnett
Jim	Podziomek
Liz	McCausland
Hannah	Perls
Vincent	Kitira
Susan	Stillman
David	Kroodsma
Thomas	Wallace
C. E.	Dawson
Gary	Ferenz
patricia	hatry
Gary	Helm
Josh	Lasky
Gabe	Ofiesh
Ron	Paulsen
Lee Ann	Warner
Stuart	Warner
William	Warner
Wyatt	Warner
Mark	Yerger
Paul	Zackin
Frank	Sarlo
Shawna	Seldon
Christoph	Herfarth
Aparna	Sundaram
Sara	Faraone
Allison	Smith
Jaime	Ewalt
Emily	Berry
Patrick	Kennedy
Karen	Sentoff
Shannon	Simmons
Kerry	Cebul
Erik	Karwatowski
Anna	Richter
Kyle	McKinnon
Lisa	Scherer
Anja	Kueppers
Erica	Langenbahn
Dave	Conna
Emily	Timchak
Pablo	Torres
Bryant	Leman
Alison	Caputo
Jen	Kroner
Musette	Stewart
Patty	Wong
Michael	Proulx
Mark	Zimring
Vanessa	Liberati
Kristin	Sullivan
Josh	Dorfman
Carol	Schaffer
Erin	O'Sullivan
Kristin	Jamerson
Caeli	Quinn
Patricia	Carson
Gabrielle	Trapenberg
Mariasol	Herrera
Jerry	Hinkle
Lolita	Werhan
Isabel	Jamerson
Timothy	Ryan
Asher	Burns-Burg
Bonnie	Corbin
Geraldine	Carter
Jerry	Scharf
Tom	Gignoux
Robert	Boone
Paul	Keegan
Marc	Ledoux
Blake	Holiday
Garett	Brennan
Jeffrey	Muir
Michelle	Gross
Seth	Heimbach
George	Saxton
Ashley	Myers
Ruth	Arnold
Fleming	Ray
Niall	Gartlan
David	Seidman
Luc	Hale
Jessie	Robinson
Will	Amend
Colin	Beavan
Mike	Block
Linda	Cassell
Alison	Gannett
Denny	Gignoux
Niels	Holst
Christopher	James
Jennifer	Leeds
Elliot	May
Fred	McLaughlin
Anita	McMullin
Tim	Nenninger
Jon	Neufeld
Mark	Olsen
Kim	Rogers
Jeremy	Smith
Maureen	Spollen
Anne	Stephenson
Wood	Turner
Christine	Vleck
Michael	Westphal
Erin	Coffee
Roz	Savage
David	Wright
Roz	Savage
Jon	Nuefeld

Join me at the US capitol on Wednesday!!!

That's right! You can join me and the rest of the Climate Riders as we ride into the US Capitol on today (Wednesday, September 30th!).

Join us and pedal with 100+ Climate Riders, 12 ambassadors, and supporters from the DC area to bicycle the final three miles of our 300 mile journey from New York City. We'll pedal up Constitution Ave to the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol for the Climate Ride finale and rally, where we will be calling for action in the Senate and at COP15.

Riders should meet at 3:15pm for a 3:30 en masse departure to the US Capitol.

You can also meet us at 3:45 PM on the West Lawn of the Capitol for the rally. Speakers at the rally include Bracken Hendricks of the Center for American Progress, Betsy Taylor of 1Sky, Keith Laughlin of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Alisa Gravitz of Green America, and members of Congress (TBA), including Senator Cardin of Maryland and Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. 

We will have a photo opportunity at the Capitol with an AP photographer and other professional photographers.

Can't wait to see you there!

Me and Cimate Ride

Sixty-four miles today. If you're womdering how I'm doing, let's just say I gave up on my pride wen the guy trailing the rolly suitcase thing behind him went wizzing past!

Sent via my second-hand BlackBerry

Wake up!

In case you didn't see:

The "adaptive challenge" of our climate emergency

From Leadership on the Line by Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky:

"Every day, people have problems for which they do, in fact, have the necessary know-how and procedures. We call these technical problems. But there is a whole host of problems [like solving climate change] that are not amenable to authoratative expertise or standard operating procedures. They cannot be solved by someone who provides the answers from on high. We call these adaptive challenges because they require experiments, new discoveries, and adjustments from numerous places in the organization or community. Without learning new ways--changing attitudes, values, and behaviors--people cannot make the adaptive leap necessary to thrive in the new environment. The sustainability of change depends on having the people with the problem internalize the change itself."

This is why I think climate is not just a regulatory problem. The culture itself must adapt. Regulatory change, forced upon a population who may not want it, is not enough. It is crucial but it is not enough. Because if we want the necessary changes to be permanent, we must remember that "the sustainability of change depends on having the people with the problem internalize the change itself."
Sent via my second-hand BlackBerry

If you're at a loss for how to help

This post is dedicated to my friend Amy Wilson.

Lately, I've been giving a lot of talks and answering a lot of questions and, often times, people ask how they can help. This is a wonderful question, but waiting for someone else to answer it is not quite as wonderful.

Let me say why. The other day, one woman raised her hand and said she was a second-grade teacher and that she wanted to teach her kids about recycling. What should I do, she asked?

This brings to mind a wonderful Zen story from a book called Dropping Ashes on the Buddha by Zen Master Seung Sahn:

When Dae Ju first came to Zen Master Ma-jo, the master asked, "What do you want from me?"

Dae Ju said, "I want you to teach me the Dharma [the Truth]."

"What a fool you are!" said Ma-jo. "You have the greatest treasure in the world within you, and yet you go around asking other people for help. What good is this? I have nothing to give you."

Dae Ju bowed and said, "Please, Master, tell me what this treasure is."

Ma-jo said, "Where is your question coming from? This is your treasure. It is precisely what is making you ask this question at this very moment. Everything is stored in this precious treasure-house of yours. It is there at your disposal, you can use it as you wish, nothing is lacking. You are the master of everything. Why, then, are you running away from yourself and seeking for things outside?"

When I started the No Impact experiment, many people said it was crazy. But no one seemed to be able to give me any other good ideas about how I could really help when it came to the climate emergency. Deep inside me was this big question, "How can I help?"

Since no one had a good answer for me, finally, I had to rely on what Ma-jo called my "treasure-house"--the very same thing (whatever it is) that caused me to ask the question, "How can I help?" I had to give up asking questions about whether I could really help or not and whether I would do it right. I had to stop checking.

I had to trust my "treasure-house."

To put it in more Christian terms, I had to have faith that the Kingdom of God was within me.

To put it in Nike's terms, I had to "Just do it!" ;)

And so I started No Impact, even though some people said it was crazy.

It is because we don't trust ourselves that we follow other people's directions. Further, one could argue that it is because we have all been following other people's directions that we are in the middle of our joint crises of climate and quality of life.

So when the second-grade teacher asks me what she can do to teach recycling to her students, I tell her to trust the place her question comes from and just do it. There is a saying I love: "Follow your situation." That means, since you know your situation better than anyone else, you are the best qualified to figure out how to help within it.

In my situation, I know no other way than to trust myself. In your situation, I know no other way than to trust you. I hope you will trust you, too. If you're wondering how you can help, just follow your situation. Trust your treasure-house. The Kingdom of God is within you. Just do it!

PS By the way, you can also follow me on Twitter and on Facebook.

Humanity sitting on its hands and melting

With the Polar Ice Caps melting faster than estimated, the WWF has put up a really clever installation on the steps of a Berlin square that anthropomorphizes ice block sculptures. The ice carved out to look like simple humans melted away in the hot summer sun in a statement speaking to the frailty of nature and the human impact thereof. Via Theme.

Help the United States be a leader again!

There's sad news coming from the climate talks taking place at the United Nations, this week, but I've learned that I am not powerless and I can help change it. You can too!

According to the New York Times:

Officials of several European countries have cited what they see as a lack of political will on the part of the United States to adequately address climate change. The American reluctance to accept any agreement that would require legally binding and internationally enforceable targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions could doom the [negotiations due to take place in Copenhagen in December], they said.

I'm not happy about this at all. This is not leadership.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to use this cool 1Sky tool that automatically rings my congresspeople and connects me by phone. I'm going to tell them I want the United States to be a leader in the Copenhagen negotiations and in building a renewable energy economy.

Please join me in letting your reps know too. To use the 1Sky tool, click here.

500 climate volunteers needed in NYC's Central Park on Sunday at 9AM!!!

The Human Countdown choreographed sculpture is the flagship event kickstarting the Climate Wake Up Call, a series of coordinated events worldwide to bring attention to the dangers faced by the world's poorest people as a result of climate change.  

As global leaders and the international media descend on the United Nation's headquarters in New York for the week beginning September 20, thousands of people will form the shape of a giant earth moving through a human hourglass sculpture.

Think halftime show meets Spencer Tunick meets Earth Day rally. Not since Christo’s Gates installation has Central Park hosted a spectacle of this scale.

The Coalition has over 2000 people confirmed to attend, but needs 500 extra volunteers from 9AM at the Trump Wollman ice rink in NYC's Central Park to be the centerpiece – the earth – of the formation.

Organized by a broad global coalition fighting climate change as part of the TckTckTck Campaign, it will frame events during Climate Week New York City. 

Please come!

Inspiring the change we need

As a culture, we're having a really hard time facing up to depth of our environmental crises and our climate change problems. That's not to say we shouldn't keep trying. We must.

But with all the trade offs between the different issues in Congress, we're having a hard time getting the change we need.

Why?

In part, it's because not enough us--the workaday folks that the politicians serve--are letting them know it's our priority (and you can help let them know through 1Sky or 350, for example). In part, it's because a lot of us haven't yet decided that it is our priority.

In other words, to accomplish what we need to accomplish, we need some cultural transformation.

How do we get it?

By working in many different ways. By trying. All shoulders at the door.

But according to one writer I admire, John Marshall Roberts, cultural transformation comes in three ways:

1. By forcing people to change (physical realm): You somehow get control, and then you insist--through regulation or otherwise--that people do what you know to be right. The thing is, once you lose control, the people rebel.
2. By persuading people to change (mental realm): You appeal to the power of reason and get people to support your agenda because it seems rational. The problem here is that someone else comes along and persuades them otherwise. Plus, what we believe with our thoughts isn't what guides our lives.
3. By inspiring people to change (spiritual realm): You appeal to their higher selves and aspirations so that they decide for themselves that they want the change you're after. Then, the transformation becomes a moral compass point.

So the question becomes, what can we do to inspire that change rather than trying to hector people into it?