New Trip

I am thinking and planning a new bike trip to Mexico and onto South America. I have the Long Haul Trucker set up now. When the time is ripe, I hope to hit the road.

Climate Change: The current state of affairs.

According to scientists and most accounts, we are in a critical, dire situation with regard to the climate. We desperately need to get carbon emissions under control--reign them in, reverse the emissions curve for CO2, forest destruction, cattle production.

We need to do this, but it seems such an intractible problem. How can we muster up the political will, the social capital to turn the situation around? How can we do it? We have to get technical real fast, it seems. How do we bring online massive megawatts of renewable power, and bring offline massive megawatts of carbon power? Or sequester the carbon and store it in the ground? How do we quickly get off of oil? How can we do this? How can we stimulate massive action? Action on a massive scale at all levels to dramatically reduce the emissions? Is it possible? What an enormous problem. Like all electrical consumption. All of this power has to be generated somehow, and the majority of the power is generated by burning coal. You can see how much power it takes in a physical sense when you use your hand or bicycle to power a generator that powers a light. It is like lifting weights. It is power. So we have to be efficient with our use of it. Like we have been with water. Power is power, and we can't merely waste it. Fossil fuels are stored power. The sun's power stored in chemical form. But we are using it way too fast, like it didn't matter. The main problem is we are using this power way too fast. We have set up the system so that we can exploit the fossil power incredibly fast without thinking about it. People are so disconnected to how they get power--electricity and gasoline. And food. It is amazing how easy it is to live your life with tons of energy available to you, and you don't have to know one thing about where it comes from or how it is produced. And then you can be so far from the adverse effects of the use of that power--the greenhouse effect. Climate change is so far from most people, especially the people who are unwittingly causing it. People who cause climate change are so far from climate change that they can live almost entirely unaware of it. It is the poor who are not causing it who experience the changes. How is this? Fossil fuel consumption is inherent in the industrialized, developed countries' way of life--powering vehicles and the electric grid. Massive power is pumped thru the grid and thru the transportation system. It is almost mind-boggling. And then the phenomenon of climate change is mind-boggling its size and scope. What a massive problem, and an intractible one at that. How can humanity get its mind, heart and soul around this problem? How can climate change touch our hearts? Preventing something bad from happening by not doing the things in your life that make your life easier. This is not attractive. So what about repowering the economy with the sources of power that do not cause the problem. So we need to directly connect the negative forms of power generation with the negative outcomes, and connect the positive forms of energy production with the positive outcomes. Solar, wind, geothermal, wave, tidal, cellulose ethanol, etc connected to a safe climate future. Forest preservation connected with a safe climate future AND and easy lifestyle. Solar Power powering your lifestyle. Wind Power carrying your lifestyle, the power of the sun powering society to an easy lifestyle AND a safe climate future. Oil, Coal, etc, should Power the clean energy revolution. So we use fossil fuels not to make our lives easier, but to phase themselves out by creating the energy technology of the future that will power our lives and our economy. Terajoules from the sun and wind. What about storage? Fossil fuels are energy storage. It is incredibly challenging to replicate the characteristics of fossil fuels, they are so convenient. They are storable, transportable. But they are purportedly contributing to a massive calamity. Could global warming be good? That would be the solution, right? Then we could burn the fossil fuels, and when they begin to run out, we could transition, right? It would be nice if global warming was not bad. Why is global warming bad? because of droughts, floods, sea level rise, rapid change of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity, spread of disease. The fact might be that consumption of fossil fuels leads to climate change. And this time, climate change is caused by man's use of fossil fuels, and that is simply the natural case--that is how climate change is happening this time. And if the climate changes so drastically that eventually civilization collapses, then that is how it goes down this time. Other times it has been meteors, etc. We are bound to become extinct sometime, right? or some of us survive? No Planet B. We just somehow set it up so that the planet recovers, and some people survive, and somehow, when things get better, some humans are around. But perhaps humans are not the end all be all. Perhaps humans are not the perfect species. Perhaps there is no such thing as a perfect species. Perhaps we are simply the current species, albeit a remarkable species. Perhaps things will fall apart and eventually something else comes along when things are destroyed and rebirth happens. It will just happen on a planetary scale. The dinosaurs became extinct. They probably thought they were the bee's knees when they roamed the earth. We can try to make the earth last longer so our children can survive, so more generations can live on the earth, so humanity can survive for a longer period of time. But it is virtually inevitable that the earth will eventually be destroyed. It is virtually inevitable that humanity will someday become extinct. I think. Humans may try to somehow survive on another planet, but it will most likely not work. This is the planet we are adapted to survive on, and no life has adapted to survive on any other planet as far as we know. So we can try to survive, but it will simply be just a try. We did not try to be created. So why should we try to survive? It was not up to us to be created, and it will not be up to us to survive, or to become extinct. Really. As if the one act of using fossil fuels to make our lives easier was our fatal flaw. Like a temptation in the garden of eden. The tree of knowledge, the well of fossil fuels, basically free stored energy. And we are not supposed to use it! Yeah, it is pretty preposterous, in a sense. but the climate is changing. deserts are expanding, ice caps are melting. more flooding, more wildfires. sea levels are rising. So climate change is happening. And our burning of fossil fuels may be the main driver. So should we not burn fossil fuels? Well, human powered transportation is awesome anyway. But how would you power your home in a non-fossil fuel way? We have solar panels. And that may be the only technology immediately available for a homeowner to power his own house without depending on fossil energy. But one thing he can do is dramatically reduce his dependence on energy itself by making his home super efficient. And this of course also eliminates debts of money. He saves money by making his house or car do the same amount of work with less energy. Then it becomes easier to power the whole house with renewable energy. Man makes his life very efficient, makes his life require less overall energy, with the same benefits. How can man make his whole life energy-efficient, and then power his life with renewable energy, and still feel like he is living an awesome life, and wonderful life? Man loves to travel, and fossil fuels can give him access to the whole world very fast. So how would one access the whole world very fast, and not depend on fossil energy, or at least not contribute to global warming? How does one for example fly in an airplane all over the world, with all the energy the plane uses, and power it with renewables? Wait, the first challenge was to make the man's life require much less energy in the first place and make him feel like his life is very fulfilled--happy, satisfying, etc. Well, clearly, for a man's life to require less energy, he must travel less. But if he is to travel less, and still feel satisfied, then he must actually love being where he is! But how can a man love being where he is? Must he select the spot he wants to be in, and then stay? Well, a man can travel a lot on a bicycle, and not use any fossil fuels, no external energy. So a bicycle can still allow the man to travel far and not require much energy to power his life. Now, the primary goal here is for the man to be satisfied, fulfilled, happy. To feel like his life is fulfilled and fulfilling. Now, man will travel and do many things because he wants to feel good, satisfied and fulfilled. But if his life is to use less energy, if his life is to require less energy to power it, then his life must require less travel. His life must be comfortable and fulfilling in a local setting. He must be happy where he places himself. So living locally must be fulfilling. So man must therefore do what he can to make his local experience happy and fulfilling. So therefore, the greenest lifestyle is one that is fulfilled in a location. One must be happy in his setting. Okay, so now his life is happy where he is. Now his house must use less energy. How will we make his house use less energy? It must be insulated well. It must use daylight efficiently. It must use the rainwater available to it.

My Surly LHT

I endorse David Kroodsma for the Huff Post Hopenhagen contest

Huffington Post is running a contest to send one worthy reporter to Copenhagen to report on the conference and bring a message to our world leaders. Kroodsma's message is one I resonate with, and one that I share from my bicycle experience: the generosity of the world's inhabitants gives us hope that we can solve the climate crisis--and indeed will be a key ingredient in overcoming it. Please vote for Dave here.

Big Dummy, Long Haul Trucker

I love my Surly Big Dummy and I have taken it on an 80-mile round trip to Sandy Point State Park and back to Mount Rainier. It seems to be a good tourer. I bought the Surly Long Haul Trucker frame and will build it up. I want to compare the two bikes and determine which I would like to take on a longer trip, i.e. to South America from here. The LHT will be lighter and faster, but it will not have the capacity to carry one or two or three extra passengers as the Big Dummy has. And that is a capacity I have enjoyed in the past--taking friends for rides on my bike! So, I probably will take the big dummy on my next tour:)

Mount Rainier, Maryland

Hi All. It has been a long time since I have written. I am living in Mount Rainier, Maryland right now, and working at REI College Park. I continue to volunteer at the organization I helped start, the Mount Rainier Bicycle Co-op. Find out more at the website, mrbikecoop.com.

I would like to do more trips, perhaps go ahead and finish biketobrazil, or head to California, Europe or China. One day...

I now have a Surly Big Dummy and I am hoping to get a Surly Long Haul Trucker, and then decide which one I would rather take on my next trip.

Climate Rides--You can join!

My friend David Kroodsma, who biked from Cali to Argentina, plus across the U.S., both trips for the climate, is organizing rides all across the US that you can join, all in support of clean energy solutions aimed at reducing our impact on the climate! Here is the link: Climate Ride

Union of Concerned Scientists 10 Things You Can Do to reduce your contribution to Global Warming

What You Can Do
Ten Personal Solutions
Individual choices can have an impact on global climate change. Reducing your family's heat-trapping emissions does not mean forgoing modern conveniences; it means making smart choices and using energy-efficient products, which may require an additional investment up front, but often pay you back in energy savings within a couple of years.

Since Americans' per capita emissions of heat-trapping gases is 5.6 tons—more than double the amount of western Europeans—we can all make choices that will greatly reduce our families' global warming impact.

1. The car you drive: the most important personal climate decision.
When you buy your next car, look for the one with the best fuel economy in its class. Each gallon of gas you use is responsible for 25 pounds of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. Better gas mileage not only reduces global warming, but will also save you thousands of dollars at the pump over the life of the vehicle. Compare the fuel economy of the cars you're considering and look for new technologies like hybrid engines.

2. Choose clean power.Products that bear the Greene logo meet rigorous quality standards
More than half the electricity in the United States comes from polluting coal-fired power plants. And power plants are the single largest source of heat-trapping gas. None of us can live without electricity, but in some states, you can switch to electricity companies that provide 50 to 100 percent renewable energy. (For more information go to Green-e.org.)

3. Look for Energy Star.
energy star logo

When it comes time to replace appliances, look for the Energy Star label on new appliances (refrigerators, freezers, furnaces, air conditioners, and water heaters use the most energy). These items may cost a bit more initially, but the energy savings will pay back the extra investment within a couple of years. Household energy savings really can make a difference: If each household in the United States replaced its existing appliances with the most efficient models available, we would save $15 billion in energy costs and eliminate 175 million tons of heat-trapping gases.

4. Unplug a freezer.
One of the quickest ways to reduce your global warming impact is to unplug the extra refrigerator or freezer you rarely use (except when you need it for holidays and parties). This can reduce the typical family's carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 10 percent.

5. Get a home energy audit.
Take advantage of the free home energy audits offered by many utilities. Simple measures, such as installing a programmable thermostat to replace your old dial unit or sealing and insulating heating and cooling ducts, can each reduce a typical family's carbon dioxide emissions by about 5 percent.

6. Light bulbs matter.
John Foley helps her daughter install an energyefficient light bulbIf every household in the United States replaced one regular light bulb with an energy-saving model, we could reduce global warming pollution by more than 90 billion pounds over the life of the bulbs; the same as taking 6.3 million cars off the road. So, replace your incandescent bulbs with more efficient compact fluorescents, which now come in all shapes and sizes. You'll be doing your share to cut back on heat-trapping pollution and you'll save money on your electric bills and light bulbs.

7. Think before you drive.
If you own more than one vehicle, use the less fuel-efficient one only when you can fill it with passengers. Driving a full minivan may be kinder to the environment than two midsize cars. Whenever possible, join a carpool or take mass transit.

8. Buy good wood.
When buying wood products, check for labels that indicate the source of the timber. Supporting forests that are managed in a sustainable fashion makes sense for biodiversity, and it may make sense for the climate too. Forests that are well managed are more likely to store carbon effectively because more trees are left standing and carbon-storing soils are less disturbed.

9. Plant a tree.
You can also make a difference in your own backyard. Get a group in your neighborhood together and contact your local arborist or urban forester about planting trees on private property and public land. In addition to storing carbon, trees planted in and around urban areas and residences can provide much-needed shade in the summer, reducing energy bills and fossil fuel use.

10. Let policymakers know you are concerned about global warming.
Our elected officials and business leaders need to hear from concerned citizens. Sign up for the Union of Concerned Scientists Action Network to ensure that policymakers get the timely, accurate information they need to make informed decisions about global warming solutions.

I got quoted and photoed in Article

Yesterday, I attended the Open the Floodgates rally in Annapolis to support the Maryland Senate's passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act for Maryland, which would spur the economy by investing in clean, green energy and efficient buildings as we cut our climate-altering emissions at the same time. Article here: Green Energy

POWER SHIFT 2007!

Power Shift 2007 from ada on Vimeo.

POLAR BEAR PLUNGE!

Tomorrow morning, Saturday, December 8, I am going to jump in the Chesapeake Bay at Annapolis--the annual Polar Bear Plunge to raise funds for the local Chesapeake Climate Action Network. CCAN works for climate protection policy in Maryland, DC and Virginia. They are based in Takoma Park, Maryland, about four miles from where I live in Mount Rainier, Maryland.

About two hundred other activists will plunge into the Bay with me, and another two hundred supporters will hold towels and hot chocolate bayside to hand to plungers when they come out. Elected officials and media will be present tomorrow.

If you would like to contribute to my plunge, visit the plunge page. My name is PJ Park and my email is pauljosephpark at gmail dot com. Thank you for your support of an excellent non-profit making a real difference in climate policy in our region and nation through grassroots organization.

Vision

Massive development of solar and wind power. Solar water heaters on everybody's roof. Massive development and deployment of geothermal heating and cooling systems, starting in large buildings. A trend toward super-well-insulated homes and buildings, using cost-effective, widely available material. A trend toward smaller living quarters to reduce the amount of space to be heated and cooled. A trend toward local living, local economies. Living close to where you work, community activities, neighbors are your friends and co-workers. The trendiness of walking, cycling and other human-powered activities. Development of cellulosic ethanol--made from switchgrass and agricultural waste. Prevalence of local, organic farming. A trend toward eating lower on the food chain. Biodiesel made from used vegetable oil. Cars that get 100 mpg. In essence, Energy Efficiency, Energy Conservation, and Renewable Energy.

Energy Efficiency: CFL's, Efficient Refridgerators, Efficient Vehicles, Efficient Washers and Driers, Geothermal Pumps, tankless water heaters, solar water heaters

Energy Conservation: Walking, cycling as transportation, turning off lights and appliances, turning down the thermostat, programmable thermostat, programmable lights, sensors for HVAC systems,

Renewable energy: Wind, Solar, Biodiesel made from waste oil or efficient crops/algae, Ethanol made from cellulose materials/switchgrass, geothermal, sustainable hydropower, Solar water heaters, solar air heaters, local organic crops as human power,

Human Powered Car!

PowerShift was Awesome!

PowerShift this past weekend was the beginning of the Clean Energy Revolution! 6,000 youth from across the country converged on College Park and Washington, DC to get inspired, share ideas, and lobby Senators and Representatives on launching our nation's move towards clean, renewable energy and green jobs. It was amazing and inspiring; the energy was very positive, the event was well-run, and our meetings with our Senators and Representatives went off very well. After our rally on the West Lawn of the Capitol, hundreds of youths danced to the music, celebrating the coming together of a hopeful movement, one that will bring prosperity to our economy, our society, and our security. The movement has truly kicked off, and we are committed to seeing our positive vision become reality.

Logical argument for action

The Green Finger

This is my video for the Step it Up's The Green Finger project. Check it out!

New Climate Bill: America's Climate Security Act (ACSA)

Environmental Defense supports this newly formulated bill, and is working to protect and strengthen it as it makes it to the Senate floor and moves through to passage. It has bi-partisan support; we are at the threshold of a great climate bill finally taking effect! Read more about it here.

Launching Climate Save!

In part to raise funds for continuing the trip, I have launched a new business of selling PowerCost Monitors that allow you to monitor your home's or business's electricity consumption in real time. For example, before you leave the house, you can see how much your house is still consuming even when you are not going to be there! and then you can go around turning off unnecessary appliances reducing your impact on the climate--saving it and some change:) To buy a powercost monitor from me, please email me (pauljosephpark at gmail dot com).

Mountain Bike (Trials Bike) Trickster - Danny Macaskill

This is unbelievable!

Operation: Climate Vote

This is the Congressional session when we are going to get a vote on serious action to deal with climate change. If you would like to give Congress the nudge it needs to get this ball rolling, you can participate in Environmental Defense's Operation: Climate Vote--sending a letter and perhaps making a phone call to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Send a letter.

If global warming and climate change are as dire a situation as the scientists make them out to be, why aren't we ACTING like it?!!!

Okay, lets be hopeful, wind power, solar power, conservation, energy efficiency, energy efficient appliances, lights, cars, using less, (having fewer babies?), sustainably-harvested bio-fuels, people changing their lifestyles (living closer to work, living in smaller quarters, putting up insulation, getting efficient refridgerators, etc.)--all this is going to add up to fewer emissions, and enough fewer emissions that we will avoid disastrous, catastrophic climate change.

Okay, or we need to do EVERYTHING(?) we can--personal, culturally, socially, politically--on all levels--household, workplace, community, municipal, county, state, regional, federal, international, private and public, with our actions and our dollars, to promote energy conservation, efficiency, and renewable energy--then we will solve this crisis.

Maybe we need mass demonstrations in the streets, which we have had and they are getting bigger. Maybe we need a carbon tax, and then the revenue raised can be used for energy conservation, efficiency and renewables initiatives. Maybe we need cap-and-trade, auctioning off the allowances and use those funds for conservation, efficiency and renewables measures. We gotta do something big, and we have to do it now--we only have one chance. And we need everybody.

Global Warming and Climate Change news coming through my channel: Let's get Political!

Hi all,

In my world, based on the news I read in the Post, on other online news sources, through my contacts, environmental organizations, etc: the world and the US need to act together in concert ASAP; we are in a race against time, against Global Warming. We are behind, and we need to catch up as fast as possible.
In my view, individuals can only do so much. One individual by changing their lifestyle cannot change the world and stop climate change. Coal-fired power plants are not the acts of individuals. Mass agriculture is not the act of individuals. The market must be spoken to; we need to give the market the input that carbon generation is not desirable, and carbon reduction IS desirable. The problem is so systematic, and we need change so fast, only government intervention can dictate to the market what we need to have changed. Thus, we need to be spending the energy that we would be using on trying to change our own lives on telling our representatives how much we need them to support the carbon-reduction strategies we need now.
Step It Up 2007 steps it up again on November 3rd when we are going to have rallies all over the country at locations where movers and shakers in our nation's history are commemorated, and we are inviting politicians of all levels, and asking them to be leaders on this issue. We need large marches demanding change on this singularly important issue. One sky, one chance. CARPE DIEM

Cycle Copenhagen -

washingtonpost.com/climate

The Washington Post has a great section on the climate, including coverage of the Senate proposals, economics of the problem, effects of climate change, and interactive graphics. www.washingtonpost.com/climate

Carpoolworld.com!

Hi All,

We (my family: parents and brothers) are working on a way to get my brother Timmy from home to Anne Arundel Community College and back three days a week. The school is near Anapolis, 25 miles away in Arnold, MD. We have come across a great site that everyone ought to know about and use more often: It is called Car Pool World! Someone contacted me with this site while I was on my bicycle trip. You can post your trip, starting and ending points, departure times, and then you can request drivers or passengers! You can specify how much leeway you wish to allow--how far out of the way you are willing to catch a ride or pick up a passenger. This tool can be of great value in helping us consolidate our traffic, reducing congestion and fuel consumption. Please try it out
! The more people we have using it, easier it will be to find a ride for Timmy (and anyone else looking for one)!

cool site

Project House