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 |
Colin Beavan (that's me!) is now leading a conversation about finding a happy, helpful life at Colinbeavan.com. If you want to know how people are breaking out and and finding authentic, meaningful lives that help our world, check it out the blog here and sign up to join the conversation here.
