Bike for 350ppm

Put Keene on the map for climate efforts

On Oct. 24, I’m joining the Monadnock community for a rally at Railroad Square at noon.

We’ll be taking a stand for the Copenhagen Climate Treaty, then marching to the Harvest Festival at Keene State College Quad at 12:45 p.m. If we were the only ones marching that day it probably wouldn’t matter. But we won’t be — that day is the Global Day of Action on Climate Change, and there are more than 3,000 connected events in 158 countries around the world.

The goal for all of them will be the same: to tell our neighbors and our leaders what the latest science makes clear: we can’t tackle global warming unless we can get the carbon concentration of the atmosphere down below 350 parts per million (ppm).

Our dependence on fossil fuels has spiked the current atmospheric carbon to 387 ppm. To reach 350 ppm, we have to take local action, such as participating in the city of Keene’s 10-percent Challenge, but also send the message to our leaders and the world that we’re ready

to make the transition to renewable solar and wind energy nationwide.

Last year, Keene won national recognition by Keene State College and my school, Antioch University New England, earning spots among the top five colleges and universities in the country pledging to Power Vote, a campaign that brought clean energy to the fore of the presidential election.

Power Vote, the city of Keene’s Climate Change Action Plan, and the Keene 10-percent Challenge have positioned Keene as a leader in climate action and make me proud to live here.

Oct. 24 we’ll be sending the message to the Senate and President Obama that we’re ready for them to follow our lead in the Copenhagen Climate Treaty.

At 2 p.m., an aerial photo will be taken and added to thousands of other actions all over the globe and posted on 350.org. Let’s put Keene on the international stage as a leader in climate action.

Please join us!