Environmental Advocacy

One mile below the surface of the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico, the oil is still free flowing from BP’s busted oil well. As the exploded oil well continues spewing and polluting, we are preparing to leave on our bicycle trip through several beautiful national parks. The timing feels right to use our bicycle tour to promote bicycle travel, and to draw attention to just how disgusted we should all be at BP and the state of this country’s dependency on oil.

The bicycle tour provides the perfect backdrop to focus on how important the environment is to all of us. One relatively simple and fun step that we all can take towards protecting our environment is commuting by bike. When you travel bike, you are out in your environment in a very different way. You meet interesting people, you get to exercise, and you get to enjoy the sunshine on your face and the cool breeze of summer mornings before your work day has even begun. Plus, it is good for the environment and anyone can feel good about doing something that takes them one step away from dependency on oil. We cannot wait to experience nature and see all of the awe inspiring sights our country has to offer by bicycle. We hope this trip will illustrate that a bicycle is a means of transportation, pure and simple. Especially in light of the disastrous oil rig explosion in the gulf, we hope you will be motivated to give biking, as a means of transportation, a try.

As a way of doing our little part in assisting with the gurgling, spewing BP mess, we’ve decided try to promote The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. We think one small step is better than none at all, so we’re giving it a shot. Neither of us are environment experts, and I don’t pretend to understand global warming. But, I do know the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana is an organization that has been doing good and necessary work for a long time. Two of my closest friends did volunteer work through Americorps with this organization, planting marsh grass and doing general cleanup of the marshlands long before this catastrophic oil spill. Currently, the volunteers with the Coalition To Restore Coastal Louisiana are in the trenches, engaged in a full force cleanup effort and they could use some help. The organization is bracing to take on a long oil spill recovery effort. They need money to train volunteers, and they need money for various beach clean up projects.

Melissa

Photos of the oil spill:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/27/us/201005_oil-spill-photo-gallery.html

Please consider donating money to the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana at: http://www.crcl.org/. Or, donate through our paypal link. All donations will be sent to the coalition.