Guest blog: Reaching the eco-horizon with Brita Climate Ride

Evan O'Neil is managing editor of Policy Innovations, the online magazine of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. 1Sky will be a beneficiary of this year's Brita Climate Ride in California, this September 21-25, 2010.Register today! -- Luis

As the BP oil spill spirals further out of control into the Gulf Loop Current, one thought keeps turning over in my mind: Why did Obama come out in favor of offshore drilling just weeks before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded? He would have looked like a political genius if he had instead proposed a clean break with fossil fuels, now poisoning our waters. In contrast, the recent decision in Massachusetts to move forward with offshore wind power highlights a better choice. It's painfully obvious to informed citizens that renewable energy is the urgent way forward. So how can our politicians not see this as well?

The current predicament reminds me of an old Russian joke. A man listening to the radio says to his wife: "The comrade General Secretary just said that 'Communism is on the horizon.' I know what communism is, but what does 'horizon' mean?” His wife replies "The horizon is the line where the sky seems to meet the Earth. It stays distant no matter how hard you try to reach it." Is this true of a green energy economy too? Can we see it, but never reach it?

I recently read the classic environmental novel Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach, which was written during the bygone era of the first Earth Day and the Clean Air Act. I was curious to see how much the ideal of an ecologically benevolent civilization has morphed in the last 40 years. It turns out not so much. The book is full of the same steady-state, zero-waste, small is beautiful, local is wonderful, bike everywhere, compostable-everything society we envision today. So how do we get there? In Ecotopia, the transition is achieved via a very decisive political break: Northern California, Oregon, and Washington all secede from the United States. While this is may be an amusing fantasy, it’s also a seemingly unlikely scenario. So what can we do instead to make an impact in Washington and move us forward?

Showing our politicians that we care about a clean energy future in person is the only way to shake our leaders from their dogmatic blunders. Back in 2008, I participated in the Brita Climate Ride, a 5-day fundraising bike ride to raise awareness of the climate crisis and a green energy future. I'm not a full-time activist, so I needed a high-impact way to get myself to Washington. Brita Climate Ride proved to be the perfect vehicle: 100+ impassioned people from around the country rode 300 miles over 5 days from New York to the steps of the US Capitol in DC.

One of the most important parts of the ride was arriving in Washington and meeting with my Congressional representatives to press the case for clean energy. Of course, when we arrived in September 2008, the economy was in free fall and the election was just months away. Little political mojo was left over for the environment while legislators were crafting the massive bank bailout. But today, two years later, the tables are turned: coal ash overflows, miners dying amid safety violations, and crude oil pouring practically unchecked into the Gulf ecosystem.

In our case the 5-day Brita Climate Ride journey was as sweet as the destination because the event is also a ‘climate conference on wheels’ with expert speakers each evening. A particular highlight was when 1Sky veteran Betsy Taylor spoke at one of the overnight stops. Her remarks hit that spiritual nerve that motivates us: What we lose in species and coastlines can never be regained.

Lucky for the growing community of climate riders, this year we’ll also have the chance to do a West Coast ride from Eureka to San Francisco, through the very territory of that mythical Ecotopian breakaway republic. This epic new ride begins under towering redwoods that provoke deep reverence, where tree-sitting heroes like Julia Butterfly Hill have drawn the line of no compromise in the dirt. It will most likely prove to be the perfect place to make a statement about the kind of future we want.

The Massachusetts wind project was buffeted by opposition for a very long time, but it’s finally moving forward. In a way, the people of Massachusetts have brought the horizon to them instead of keeping it at the edge of their reality. It’s like riding your bike up a big hill: it may be a difficult climb, but once you crest the top, it’s a great coast down the other side.

If you don't want another Deepwater Horizon incident, and if you don't want an ecological-minded society to always exist "on the horizon," check out Brita Climate Ride. It’s one of the best ways I know to help bring the horizon of a new energy future within our grasp.