The Climate Ride initiative started last September with over 100 riders. This year, the ridership has more than doubled and is perfectly timed (September 26-30) to push the Senate to pass a climate bill like the House’s recent bill, the American Clean Energy & Security Act.

Pablo and Gabrielle are the two riders representing North Carolina, and I have no doubt they will represent my native state well. Pablo has been a great athlete since his childhood in Costa Rica. We played many fun soccer games throughout college and afterward. And they both just finished an impressive triathlon last weekend!

While the Climate Ride is focused on getting federal leaders to act, the ride also raises funds for three climate advocacy groups: Focus the Nation, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, and Clean Air-Cool Planet. Each rider pays $100 to register for the ride and then aims to raise $2,400 for the cause among friends, family, and fellow climate stewards. Pablo and Gabrielle have raised 70% of their goal, but could use your help to finish it off by September 15th.

To learn more and make a tax-deductible donation, go to their ride website, Latinos por el Planeta, here. And if you like dance parties or auctions, Pablo and Gabrielle are holding an ’80s vs. ’90s dance party and a silent auction in Chapel Hill and Durham, NC, in the coming weeks (see details here).

It’s great these hundreds of cyclists are translating their love for biking and concern for our Earth’s climate into such a strong statement for political action. Along the route, expert speakers will educate and inspire local communities about global warming and what we can all do to be part of the solution. Then, at the steps of the U.S. Capitol, riders will call on federal leaders to act this Fall so that our country becomes a model in emissions reduction and a center for millions of clean energy jobs that drive a green economic recovery.

Though the current ride from New York City to DC is mainly for experienced cyclists like Pablo and Gabrielle, the East Coast Greenway Alliance plans to make the route accessible to all within a few years

Onwards in the Sustainable Energy Transition and good luck to Pablo and Gabrielle!

The report was the product of a partnership between groups, including PolicyLink and the Prevention Institute and was supported by leading foundations such as Kresge, Robert Wood Johnson, and Kellogg. The most encouraging aspect of the report to me was that its foreword was written by none other than Representative Jim Oberstar (D-MN), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He put a strong stamp of approval on the report’s priority to make transportation policy a means to solving interrelated challenges that our country faces from climate change to spiraling health care costs to foreign oil dependence.

I recommend the 26-page report for those interested in contributing to just and environmentally responsible federal transportation policy in the months and years ahead. Now is the time to get involved in the process. The next six-year transportation bill is under development, so your federal leaders need to hear that you want a greater percentage of transportation dollars to flow to pedestrian paths, bike lanes, multi-use greenways, and public transit that help our communities get healthier and more economically prosperous.

Onwards in the Sustainable Energy Transition-

As Michael Oliva of the East Coast Greenway Alliance (ECGA) staff recalled, the ECGA got involved in local bike-ped advocacy efforts years ago to complete the region’s section of a 3,000 mile long greenway route from Key West to Canada. The ECG brought attention and awareness to making all areas surrounding the ECG a safer place to bike and walk. From their work sprang the Westchester-Putnam Biking and Walking Alliance — a group dedicated to making cycling and walking safer in the County.

Their recent accomplishment was the passage of a law that requires all new developments to provide bicycle racks. For every 10 car parking spaces, one bicycle parking space must be provided. Mayor Noam Bramson celebrated the measure as one of many to help lower greenhouse gas emissions and promote public health in his New Rochelle community. Other initiatives include bike parking in public spaces and a growing bike lane infrastructure to increase the safety of riders.

It will take much more work to help a majority of New Rochelle’s ~70,000 residents embrace bicycling and walking as a legitimate means of transportation. But the effort of local citizens (the Biking and Walking Alliance) in collaboration with regional organizations (such as the East Coast Greenway Alliance) is already making great progress and is a model for bike-ped advocacy in other communities.

Here’s to much more progress in New Rochelle that breeds progress here in NYC during the months and years ahead!