Will Biden finally declare a climate emergency? Here’s why he should.

Can you believe it? After years of public pressure, reports say the Biden Administration is considering declaring a climate emergency.

But what does that mean, and why is it so important? 

The Biden Administration has the power to declare a climate emergency under the National Emergencies Act. If they did, it would be HUGE. Declaring a climate emergency would carry immense weight, enabling a range of measures to be implemented quickly. It would give the White House the ability to: 

  • Reinstate the crude oil export ban
  • Deny permits for any new fossil fuel projects or drilling
  • Mandate a phase out of fossil fuel production on federal lands and waters. 
  • Redirect disaster relief funds toward distributed renewable energy construction in frontline communities
  • Marshal companies to fast-track renewable transportation and clean power generation, all while creating millions of high-quality union jobs. 

In short: a climate emergency declaration is not merely symbolic; it is a crucial step towards catalyzing the transformative change needed to address the climate crisis. And with fossil fuel companies trying to build new infrastructure left and right, a climate emergency declaration would be an important tool to stop the madness and build a sustainable future instead. 

We’ve been asking the President to take this step for years, and it’s needed now more than ever. We’ve just faced ten straight months of global heat records and it appears there’s more to come. The United Nations’ climate chief issued a red-alert warning on climate, after record heat and ice melt in 2023. Here in the United States, climate disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity, and the forecast is for another sweltering summer.

Extreme weather events, exacerbated by climate change, have cost the U.S. more than $1 trillion in recent years–globally it is $16 million per hour. Human health is being directly impacted, and inequity is being furthered in the U.S. and globally. Food supplies are directly impacted and over 1 billion people could be displaced in the coming years.

If that’s not an emergency, I don’t know what is. 

Let’s make it official. We’re coordinating a nationwide petition with the goal of sending at least 100,000 names to the White House demanding: Declare a climate emergency now!

Let me be clear. So far, President Biden has been the strongest U.S. president yet on climate change. The Inflation Reduction Act he championed provided more than $370 billion on clean energy over the next decade. The Environmental Protection Agency under his supervision has moved forward on several key rules that will reduce climate pollution from cars, power plants, and more. 

But there’s much more to be done and we’re running short on time to do it. 

This is the climate crisis, and this is an emergency. Tell President Biden: This is not a drill. Declare a climate emergency now! 

Add your name to the petition today. 


Add your name to the nationwide petition


Tell the White House to Support a Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza and the Return of All Israeli Hostages

Climate change is a crisis demanding our utmost attention. But there are moments when we must pause to respond to suffering from other causes, especially suffering as great as that in Gaza and Israel now.

As a multi-racial, multi-faith staff — including adherents of Christianity, Judaism and Islam — we call on the White House to support a peace arrangement founded on a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the return of all Israeli hostages.

As negotiations for a ceasefire continue at this moment, we believe it is important for U.S. advocacy groups of all types to speak up for a just and lasting peace. To date, more than 100 Israeli hostages are still being held after 1200 Israeli men, women, and children were attacked and killed on October 7th by Hamas. This is unacceptable. Since then, more than 27,000 Palestinians and others have been killed in raids and bombings by the Israeli Defense Forces, two thirds of them women and children. In December, the World Food Program said 90 percent of Gazans were eating less than one meal per day. This is unacceptable.

Sign the petition: Tell the White House to support a peace agreement that includes a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and secures the return of all Israeli hostages. The suffering of innocent men, women, and children must stop. This petition will be delivered TODAY (February 8) by 8 PM ET.

As a climate change group, nearly all of our advocacy is focused on clean energy and climate justice issues, as it should be. But very occasionally, we call for justice in the wake of other extraordinary moments – the Haitian earthquake disaster of 2010, the killing of George Floyd in 2020, and the January 6th insurrection.

The scale of innocent lives lost in this conflict has few rivals among conflicts in our lifetimes. The Gaza war, like all wars, distracts the world community from focusing on the biggest long-term threat of violence to all people everywhere: climate change. Now the United States, unlike in most armed conflicts in the world right now, has a decidedly strong opportunity to influence an end to the violence in Israel and Gaza.

Sign the petition: Tell the White House to support a peace agreement that includes a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and secures the return of all Israeli hostages. The suffering of innocent men, women, and children must stop. This petition will be delivered TODAY (February 8) by 8 PM ET.

Your support for our organization is based first and foremost on our work to end global warming. We know that. Our commitment to that goal will never change. But today we ask you to demand peace in Gaza so we can continue to work for climate peace for the entire planet.

Help Victims of Mideast Conflict

Dear Friends,


It has been more than two weeks since the horrifying hostilities broke out in the Middle East. Like you, our hearts are broken here at CCAN for all the innocent victims in Israel and Gaza who have already died or continue to suffer daily in border towns, refugee camps and hospitals. We are appalled, too, by the spate of anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic hate crimes and speech that have arisen here in the United States in the wake of the conflict. We condemn such actions.

Meanwhile, we strongly support the call from the United Nations and the Biden Administration for a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting to allow food, fuel, and medicine to reach stranded and suffering people in Gaza. And we encourage you, our supporters, to consider donating to relief efforts for those hungry and injured in all sides of this Mideast conflict zone. 

We recommend two organizations whose work stands out in this conflict. The first is World Central Kitchen, which is committed to the goal of providing food directly to those in need in Gaza and affected parts of Israel. The second is Doctors Without Borders, which is providing medical aid to the wounded and sick throughout Gaza.

Help people in need in Gaza and Israel: Donate to World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders. These groups are making a difference on the ground.

Climate change is a crisis demanding our utmost attention. But there are many moments when we must pause to respond to suffering from other causes, especially suffering as great as that in Gaza and Israel now. So please donate.

Also, if you are interested in learning how you can help prevent or address hate crimes in your community, check out this excellent resource from the US Department of Justice. I think you’ll find many helpful tools here in our ongoing national effort to move beyond hate and toward a nation and world of greater tolerance and peace.

And, right now, please help people in need in Gaza and Israel: Donate to World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders. These groups are making a difference on the ground.

Thank you for all you do to help us address the greatest threat of future violence and suffering on this planet: climate change. But now, there is very real suffering in the Middle East. Please help relieve some of the pain with a gift.

Sincerely,

Mike Tidwell
Executive Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network

In the Climate Fight, We are Not Alone

What Marching Alongside 75,000 Activists Reminds Us

My alarm went off bright and early on the morning of September 17. It was still dark as I pulled myself out of bed just before 5 am. I checked my phone and saw that Mason, CCANs Central Virginia Organizer, had already met up with a group of volunteer activists he had rallied together, boarded them all onto a charter bus, and was headed to the March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City. I splashed some water on my face, slipped on my comfiest tennis shoes, and made my way to College Park, MD where Masons’ bus was stopping to pick up myself, my colleague Mustafa, and a group of additional volunteers from the surrounding area. By 7:30 am, 47 CCANers were on the bus ready to make history.

As we drove I took a moment to look around at the people who had so graciously given up their Sunday to be with there with us. They came from all sorts of backgrounds, from teen activists and college students to retired community members. All there to protest for a liveable future. We all got to know each other on the way there, sharing why we chose to come, singing march chants to get excited, and of course, sharing what felt like a lifetime of coffees to make sure we were all properly caffeinated. 

“I felt compelled with every fiber of my being that I needed to be there,” said Gerri Carrillo of Amelia County, Virginia. 

As for me, I was there because, for the first time in a long time, climate anxiety was overriding the hope I felt about the progress we were collectively making. I turned 26 a few months ago and have been thinking about the future. I was inundated with thoughts about how climate change would affect the world I grew up in and how different it would be for my future children. I could already see it, the effects of climate change were no longer just things I read about in the news. It was happening right in front of me. Smoke from wildfires covering half the country, continuous flooding in my hometown, our fading winters. It all felt completely out of my control. It was easy to feel like I was solely responsible for a global solution. By getting on that bus that humid Sunday morning, I felt like I was taking back power over what I wanted my future to look like. When we arrived, standing there on the streets of New York City, surrounded for miles by other activists, a surge of hope rushed to my cheeks. I could see that there were thousands and thousands and thousands of people who would continue to fight with me. I was not alone. 

 As we marched with herds of other activists down 52nd Street, demands for a paradigm shift echoed in the air: End the era of fossil fuels.

The plan was this: thousands of us would flood the streets the weekend before the UN Climate Ambition Summit, demanding that President Biden lead the world away from fossil fuel reliance. It was time to call on Biden to take decisive executive action to halt new oil and gas leases in the United States. This 2023 March to End Fossil Fuels had the momentum to be not just a massive demonstration, but a crucial moment in Biden’s presidency. It marked the largest climate mobilization he had witnessed since taking office in 2021. 

And it felt like it. More than 75,000 people protested with me, demanding big changes. The number of young people there lit a fire under my butt. The barely threes on their fathers’ shoulders, or the grade schoolers playing tag through the masses (much to their guardians’ chagrin), or the college students who joined me on the CCAN bus. If they could find the courage to keep marching, so could I. Our presence in those streets was a testament to the collective power of individuals who refuse to be bystanders in the face of an escalating climate crisis. A hopeful possibility of a universal understanding that the transition away from fossil fuels was not only necessary, but imperative for the health and well-being of our planet and its inhabitants. And we were there to make it happen. 

“When the air we breathe is under attack, what do we do??” I screamed into the bullhorn Mason had so kindly given me the honor of monitoring (it was my first time using one at an event this size and I was psyched). A few hundred people shouted back, “Stand up!! Fight back!!” I continued, “When the water we drink is under attack, what do we do??” “Stand up, fight back!!”

Our message was clear, we need leaders worldwide to take meaningful climate action, now. It was a declaration that we, as citizens, were united in our determination to protect the Earth and its inhabitants. We marched for our children, our friends, the guy who cut us in line last week, our parents and siblings, the kid who used to push us on the playground, for those who could not march. That day we marched for humanity as a whole, reminded that Earth will survive climate change, but we might not. Stand up. Fight back.

Ending new drilling for gas and oil

Would be our hearts’ desire.

Deadly fossil fuels will kill us all,

Setting Mother Earth on fire!

– Frances Broaddus-Crutchfield, Midlothian, VA

We came to the end of our march path and settled in to listen to speakers such as Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a sixteen-year-old climate leader, and even an eight-year-old activist with his mother. Hearing their speeches made me hyperaware of one thing: we were all scared – but we were all here. I was situated next to a loudspeaker, but even with my ears ringing at the end of each speech, I could hear that all of these voices echoed in part of a global chorus demanding a massive shift. We have the home team advantage in this fight, and boy do we have something to fight for. The thought of the loss we’re faced with if we do nothing is enough to make anyone shut down completely. But scared as we were, we all showed up to do something about it. 

Growing up, my dad often repeated a popular Nelson Mandela quote to us, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” Continuing to push on and advocate for justice in the face of overwhelming fear. That was us, courageously pushing forward, pushing for change. The energy and determination that coursed through the crowd was a forceful reminder that the fight against climate change was a battle we could not afford to lose. This march was not an isolated event, but a catalyst for ongoing action. It was a rallying cry that reverberated through the halls of power, calling for a transformative shift in our energy policies. The momentum generated on that day will serve as a foundation for the continued battle to end our reliance on fossil fuels.

In the aftermath of the march, as we climbed back on our bus and returned to our homes and communities in the DMV area, we carried a renewed sense of purpose. We were armed with the knowledge that we were on the front lines of the largest-ever march with the primary demand of abolishing the fossil fuel industry. Our voices could have the power to effect real change. “Being there among 75,000 other ‘drops in the bucket’ felt amazing!” said Carillo. “I am not young and I am not able-bodied, but I came home thinking, ‘I’ve got work to do and for the rest of my life!’” 

Even now, as I sit in my apartment in Rosslyn, VA, writing this piece, I am reminded that the battle has only just begun. A group of 30 climate protesters from Extinction Rebellion gather in the street below me, blocking traffic and chanting. “What do we want?” “Climate Justice!” “When do we want it?” “Now!” Revolution is in the air, can’t you smell it? I think I’ll wrap this up and head down to join them.

The March to End Fossil Fuels was inspiring and meaningful, but they remind me that the battle is yet to be won. Until it is – I’m standing up, and I’m fighting back. But I am not alone, and neither are you. 

Are you ready to take the next step to end the era of fossil fuels? Sign the petition calling on Biden to end fossil fuels now.

Then become a CCAN Action Member and find your local team.

Tell Biden: End Fossil Fuels!
Join the Movement: Become an Action Member!

Offshore Wind: Up Close and Personal

By Jess Rampulla

On a warm September day, twenty-two CCAN staff members, friends, and supporters boarded a boat in Virginia Beach to see offshore wind turbines, located twenty-seven miles off the coast of Virginia. This once-in-a-lifetime experience was truly remarkable, and I was thrilled to be able to share it with other members of the climate community.

At eight in the morning, our group boarded a boat along with members of Dominion Energy staff and Rudee Tours to begin our five-hour trip. You could feel the excitement from everyone on board, ready for the journey ahead of us. While the first moments driving out proved to be rockier than expected, our CCAN group continued to exclaim how excited they were to be here, with people making jokes about if everyone had taken their dramamine for breakfast. After the water settled, we all loaded into the boat’s inner cabin, just big enough to hold everyone on board, to hear a presentation from a Dominion Energy staff member on what to expect during the trip, and facts about the amount of power wind turbines could produce.

After the presentation, everyone shuffled back out on the deck to enjoy the warm weather and try and catch a glimpse of the turbines. We could just barely see them off in the distance around ten miles offshore. On our journey out, I had conversations with several CCAN donors and supporters on board. Reasons for making the journey varied from “we could never have passed up this opportunity” to “I’m doing this to give my grandchildren a better future.” As the turbines became more visible, people on board began to snap pictures and crowd towards the front of the boat. Everyone wanted proof that they were here today, and to have evidence to share with all their friends and family back home.

Finally, after around two hours, we pulled up just feet from one of the turbines. Enormous doesn’t feel like quite a strong enough word to describe just how big these power sources were:

The thing that shocked me the most from being so up close was just how quiet the turbines were. They made no sound, aside from the whoosh of air as they spun. The boat stopped for around thirty minutes so everyone was able to admire the turbines and get all the photos they wanted. The joy on everyone’s face as they looked up at these huge structures was contagious. We were looking at the future of off-shore wind energy in Virginia. Maryland State Delegate, Lorig Charkoudian was on board and spoke with members of CCAN’s staff about how this was the ultimate goal for Maryland as well. While at the turbines, we had a surprise visit from a school of fish, swimming and feeding around the bottom of the turbines, proving that these structures don’t affect marine life in the area.

After our stop at the turbines, we started the journey back. We spotted a pod of about twenty dolphins swimming next to our boat, happily jumping in and out of the waves. We ate sandwiches and chips and made sure to keep hydrated and reapply sunscreen. The trip back was more subdued, with everyone appearing to process the magnitude of what they saw. As we pulled back into port and walked off the boat, groups of people formed, all sharing their own thoughts from the trip. As people loaded into cars to drive back home or begin a day of canvassing, I felt overwhelmingly grateful for this experience and to have the opportunity to work for a company like CCAN that helps move the Chesapeake region towards cleaner energy and a more sustainable future.

Biden Administration issues woefully insufficient offshore wind lease areas for the Central Atlantic

On July 31, the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) failed to live up to President Joe Biden’s promise of an all-of-government approach to tackling the climate crisis. The offshore wind lease areas for the Central Atlantic that BOEM issued are woefully insufficient. Combined, the new lease areas total only 356,550 acres, which is not enough space for the region to meet its offshore wind energy goals.  

Offshore wind has the promise to bring good union jobs to our region, lower energy prices, and slash pollution, but the maps BOEM released today will limit the benefit wind will be able to bring to the Central Atlantic. At a time when heat waves are costing the US billions of dollars, President Biden should be clearing the way for as much affordable, clean energy as possible. We urge President Biden to direct BOEM to open up more federal waters for offshore wind development and to ensure that the B-1 lease area is not shrunk any further. We also urge BOEM to open up a new Central Atlantic leasing process for additional shallow and deep water areas within one year.  

All your questions about going electric in DC — answered! 

DC residents can lower their utility bills and make their homes safer and cleaner! 

The Inflation Reduction Act act provides money to states to pay for home electrification. Starting as soon as fall 2023, DC will be using this money to pay for complete home electrification for low income homeowners, provide some assistance to those with higher incomes, and to provide renters with rebates for electric appliances. Beyond this, DC has additional funding available through “Solar For All” and the “Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program” (LIHEAP). 

The most important thing you can do right now is sign up with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network to be contacted about free home electrification programs as soon as they become available. 

Have questions about how you can go electric in DC for less? We have the answers! While some solutions listed below are income-dependent, others are for all income levels, so read on to see what works for you. 

Q: I already have trouble affording my electric and gas bills. How can I start saving money right now? 

A: Once you apply for LIHEAP (Low income home energy assistance program) it will opt you in to Solar for All community solar, which acts as a discount on your electric bill. You can also apply for the Weatherization Assistance Program and/or the Emergency Mechanical Assistance Program. These won’t make your home electric, but they can help save you money. Weatherization will also help the environment. 

Q: Are there any other programs you would recommend to improve my home? 

A: The DC Partnership for Healthy Homes can help you fix in-home health hazards if you income qualify. Check their web page for the specific problems they can help with.

Eligible households include:

  • Children with severe and poorly controlled asthma;
  • Children less than 6 years old with a blood lead level of concern; and
  • District residents with a child less than 6 or a pregnant household member, whose home contains health and safety threats.

Q: How can I sign up to save money using solar energy? 

A: The DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU)’s Community Solar or Solar for All programs may be able to reduce your utility bills and help the environment at no cost to you. Fill out their form and their expert customer service staff will contact you. [something about community solar for renters?

If qualified, you will be able to upgrade your natural gas HVAC system to energy-efficient equipment that will save you energy and money, including a smart thermostat, electric heat pump, and electric heat pump water heater, where applicable. All who qualify must be District homeowners or renters living in single-family homes with 4 units or less, meet the same income limits above for the Solar for All Program, and your home must have an existing natural gas heating or water heating system.

I don’t qualify for Solar for All. Can I still get solar panels? 

Of course. Find a list of contractors at the bottom of this page.  

DC offers Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) for solar energy generation. These can be traded or sold, in effect earning you dividends for providing green energy. Because of this, private companies may offer to install solar panels for free (and take the SRECs) or,if you purchase the panels yourself, you will likely get a monthly SREC payment. Please consult this guide for more detailed information. 

Remember, companies get paid by the panel, and may try to see you panels that are not situated to optimally generate electricity.  A reputable company will recommend the panels that can make electricity effectively, not just cover any available space with panels. 

Q: I want to electrify my home as soon as possible! What can I do using my own money? 

A: There are three first steps you can choose from: 

  • Use the energy star website to find a home energy audit contractor. The contractor will assess your home energy usage and can recommend next electrification steps.
  • Have an electrician come to your house and install plugs that can handle an electric stove, water heater, dryer, and most importantly, heat pump. That way, when your appliances break, you can quickly install electric ones.
  • If your appliances are not likely to break soon, finance a purchase of solar panels, and use the money you save to pay for home electrification. 
What are some useful guides to the entire home electrification process? 

Biden’s TPS extension falls short of protecting climate migrants

Biden’s TPS extension falls short of protecting climate migrants

Written by Nina Brown

Climate change could displace more than a billion people around the world by 2050. As global warming persists, CCAN has recently teamed up with other activist organizations to urge the White House to guarantee the United States as a safe haven for climate migrants to reconstruct their lives. Together, we sponsored a nationwide petition that received over 15,100 signatures nationwide in just a few days, urging the Biden Administration to redesignate temporary protected status (TPS) for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua and designate TPS for Pakistan. 

Climate change migration is commonly associated with the future submergence of coastal cities like New Orleans. However, the truth is, people are already being forced to abandon their homes due to climate change – factors such as landslides and the destructive consequences of drought on crop production are driving individuals to seek refuge elsewhere.  Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua are all located in what has become known as the ‘Dry Corridor’, an area especially vulnerable to droughts.The intensification of droughts has resulted in crop failure, heightened food insecurity, and urgent migration in pursuit of improved opportunities. Similarly in Nepal, flash floods caused by the warming of the Himalayas have forced entire villages to migrate. These are some of the hardest hit nations by climate change and many people turned to the U.S. in hopes to rebuild their lives. 

What’s Being Done

TPS offers crucial safeguarding to climate change migrants by providing them with temporary legal status. Recognizing the need for urgent action, CCAN worked with other activist groups to mobilize support for redesignating TPS with a petition and rally led by CASA outside the White House. We thank our petition signers for affirming that these people must be protected from deportation, family separation and further environmental disasters. 

The Biden Administration seems to be listening! They just responded by extending TPS for certain immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua—just a few of the countries disproportionately bearing the brunt of climate change-induced disasters despite contributing the least to global warming—to stay in the United States until 2025.  

What Needs to be Done

While this recent move will let 337,000 climate migrant families continue living in the U.S., it only applies to those who arrived in the U.S. by 2018, ignoring those who fled recent climate disasters.

Additionally, it did not extend TPS to the thousands of Pakistani migrants displaced by recent deadly floods that left a third of the country underwater and nearly half a million people displaced. These individuals fled to the U.S. in hopes of the chance to rebuild their lives and deserve protection from future climate disasters. In fact, a NASA study recently found that along with flooding, heatwaves will make parts of Pakistan soon uninhabitable. That’s why CCAN is still calling for further TPS designation for Pakistan.

What You Can Do

While the Biden Administration has taken a step forward by extending Temporary Protected Status for select immigrants from climate-affected nations, it is imperative to recognize that more action is required. As we approach a potentially unprecedented refugee crisis, it is crucial to safeguard all climate migrant families in the United States: sign our petition here to protect climate change migrants.

Sign the petition today!

Climate Ride 2023: Team CCAN

 

Team CCAN Bikes Through the Shenandoah Valley for Climate Action

 

We did it! CCAN’s first ever (official) Climate Ride team participated in the Green Fondo Climate Ride in Shenandoah, VA and we had a BLAST! It was one of the most memorable events I have ever participated in, and I want to tell you about it so that you all join me on Team CCAN next year! 

What is Climate Ride?

The Green Fondo– a play on “Gran Fondo” (Italian for “Great Ride”) for all of you cycling people out there– is a weekend biking event hosted by Climate Ride, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that mobilizes people to protect our planet through life-changing adventures. They organize charitable biking, running, and hiking events to raise awareness and support sustainability, active transportation, and environmental causes.

 

Team CCAN, which consisted of seven riders, has already raised almost $17,000, all of which will go directly to CCAN! Every detail throughout the weekend was thoughtfully planned by the Climate Ride organization – from the bike routes to the food– and even though we had quite a bit of rain come down over the course of the weekend, it didn’t put a damper on the fun! 

 

Day One: 37 miles on Skyline Drive:

On Friday night, we arrived at the Northern Virginia 4-H Conference center and were greeted by the friendly Climate Ride staff– shoutout to Amy, Patrick, and the entire team for the warm welcome! We had smores, got acquainted with our fellow climate riders, and stayed warm next to a roaring fire! We hit the hay early, after we got the rundown on the plan for the morning. 

On Saturday, we woke up bright and early and ready to ride. After a delicious breakfast, and a safety talk, we hopped on the bus, our bikes were loaded into the truck, and we were shuttled to the Thorton Gap entrance to Shenandoah National Park. One of the great perks of participating in a Climate Ride event is that they do almost everything for you except the pedaling! They provide the route, the water stops, the lunch, emergency bike repair along the route, the shuttle, and snacks! You quite literally just have to show up with your bike (and do your fundraising of course!) 

We hit the road at around 10:30 AM and started our journey northward on Skyline Drive. I have driven along Skyline Drive many times, and I have always thought  “wow, those people must be crazy” as I passed bikers, but this time, I was one of them. In all seriousness, I can honestly say that I felt very safe the entire time. The Climate Ride Guides encouraged us to take all of the necessary safety precautions and made sure we were ready to go out and have a safe and fun day in the park on our bikes.

After a long day in the saddle, we rode back into camp having covered 37 miles and climbed 3,000 ft of elevation. Phew- I was beat! We were treated to a restorative yoga session followed by a much needed hot shower. In the evening, Palmyra performed live while we enjoyed local beer and wine and chatted it up with the other riders about the day’s adventures.

The Party:

After a delicious dinner catered by Blue Wing Frog restaurant (check it out if you’re in the area), we listened to a special talk by Alex Clark, who is the founder of Prime Ability– a youth development program with the mission of building communities and inspiring the lives of young people through fitness. Alex, who is a teacher at Dunbar High School in Washington, DC, started Prime Ability in the summer of 2020 with the goal of getting “more kids on bikes and less kids on the streets.” The organization has been growing exponentially year after year, Alex was named a 2023 DC Teacher of the Year finalist, and he has established a National Interscholastic Cycling Association team that is expected to grow to almost 30 riders this coming year! You can follow Prime Ability on Instagram here. They host weekly rides in the DC area for students looking to get out and ride! 

 

Day Two: Biking in the Rain

On Sunday, we got WET. It was pouring when we left camp for the 20 mile ride, but about 30 of us persevered and we had a wonderful time. Our route took us through wine country, fields filled with adorable cows and their calves and past the roaring Shenandoah river. The Climate Ride team had Apple Cider donuts waiting for us at the water stop before we continued along the route to our first big climb of the day. I’ll admit–my legs went on strike at one point and I jumped off my bike to walk up a steep hill. Thank goodness for my awesome fellow climate riders encouraging me up every hill. Everytime I felt like giving up there was someone behind me telling me to push through and keep going. 

 

Everyone in the Climate Ride community was so welcoming on my first climate ride. I was inspired by the passion these people have for not only the sport, but for the organizations they raise money for year after year riding in events all over the country. 

Our Team:

I am so proud of Dan, Lisa, Katie, Connor, Kurt, and Reid! All together, we have already raised ~$17,000 – all of which will go directly to CCAN! If you would like to donate to our team, we would love your support! We have a goal of raising $25,000 and we are able to accept donations until June 30th! Climate Ride is also generously matching all donations. 

 

 

 

Join Team CCAN Next year:

One thing is for sure, I will be back. Like so many others I’ve talked to, after one event with Climate Ride, you’re hooked! It’s an incredible way to fundraise for an environmental organization you are passionate about, a fun way to enjoy the outdoors, and a great way to hang out with people who care about the environment. I’m looking forward to the next East Coast Climate Ride,and growing team CCAN’s participation in the event, so be on the lookout for an email from me next year (sign up for our email updates here) to join me out there!

 

Take a Climate Ride or Hike on Your Own:

Climate Ride hosts hikes and biking trips throughout the year and around the world! They have something for everyone. You can check out their upcoming events here.

 

CCAN is always looking for grassroots fundraising opportunities like this for our supporters to be a part of. If you would like to participate in a Climate Ride in support of CCAN, have another idea for a peer-to-peer fundraising event, or would like to host a benefit concert or other form of fundraiser, please reach out to our Major Gifts and Events Officer, Jessica Rampulla, at jessica@chesapeakeclimate.org. 

 

It’s also not too late to support Team CCAN and our 2023 ride through Shenandoah! Every dollar donated will go to CCAN AND will be matched by Climate Ride! Support our Climate Ride team today.

 

Nicole Schroyer 

Communications Manager CCAN & CCAN Action Fund 

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