Thank you sponsors!

I wanted to devote a post to thanking and promoting my amazing sponsors who made it possible for me to be in New Mexico right now, preparing to leave on my quest across the country to stimulate the change we need for our planet!

Gold Sponsors ($1 a day, or $162 +)

I owe a huge thanks to my most generous sponsor, John Ingle, the owner of Heron Hill Winery on Keuka Lake. John is passionate about protecting our beautiful home region, the Finger Lakes, which is currently under threat from incoming fracking and gas storage industries. (To learn more about these issues close to mine and John's hearts, check out www.gasfreeseneca.com)

Picture courtesy of: Erin Rafalowski

Activism Spotlight & Suggested Reading: Obama's Climate Address

Suggested Reading

This week’s suggested reading is actually a suggested watching. If you haven’t already, I want you to watch President Barack Obama’s speech on climate change, in which he explains his plan for reducing carbon pollution and increasing renewable energy in the United States.

Whenever the President gives a speech or an address, I feel it is important for American citizens to watch and listen. However, this speech in particular is a historical one. Never before has a President delved into such a forward looking and comprehensive plan for the environment. If you truly care about the environmental cause and working for change, it is essential to understand the viewpoint of the government on the matter and the actions that are currently being taken. If there aren’t enough initiatives being carried out, we need to voice our opinions and fight for them, and if actions are being taken, we need to show our support.

If you want to know the opinion of our nation’s leader on climate change, and the actions he is taking to reduce America’s carbon footprint, then you need to watch his climate change address, given at Georgetown University on June 25th.

Picture courtesy of: http://news.yahoo.com/watch-obamas-climate-change-speech-turns-hes-talking-174716170.html

Weekly Green Challenge: Get Vocal

I can’t stress enough how important being vocal about the environment is. The big dogs in the capitol are making bills that deal with the environment. Big corporations are going to keep doing what they’re doing if they think everything is running smoothly. Legislators and business owners won’t know what you want unless you tell them, and if they don’t know something is wrong, nothing will change.

This week, I want you to practice being vocal. It’s really easy, and if you’re shy, that’s okay too. Contacting people doesn’t actually require a lot of speaking- it’s mostly writing. In a lot of cases, it’s just signing something. Organizations like WWF, 350.org, and the League of Women voters often provide pre-written letters. All you have to do is sign them and alter them, if you so choose. Then hit a “send” button.
It seems like I’ve been giving a lot of challenges that aren’t that hard… maybe I’m being too soft on you guys!

Anyways, on each post day this week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) I want you to either send a letter, an email, or make a phone call for an environmental cause that you care about. I’ll provide something that you can do each day, but please, feel free to do your own.

Activism Spotlight & Suggested Reading: KXL Pipeline

Happy Arbor Day!

Each year, the United States celebrates Arbor Day on the last Friday in April. It is a holiday that encourages people to plant and care for trees, and it originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska. The first Arbor day was held on April 10th, 1872, and it was estimated that 1,000,000 trees were planted that day. By the 1920's, each state in the United States had passed a law that designated a day for Arbor Day. Since then, many more countries have started to recognize a similar holiday.