When renewable energy advocate Tom Weis decided to start a national dialogue about US energy policies, he set out on a 2,500-mile journey to Washington DC by hybrid electric trike.
Along the way, the Boulder, Colorado, resident has been talking to people he meets along the road and to children at school assemblies. (Check out the Q&A with students at Mason Intermediate School in Ohio.)
Like many others, Weis has found that pedaling along in an essentially human-powered vehicle is a great conversation starter.
Rocket trike
That's especially the case when the vehicle is a rocket-like trike with a canary-yellow carbon fiber shell. It sports a small electric motor to help him get the loaded 150-pound rig over the mountains. It also carries solar panels to power his lights and cell phone. (Weis tells more about his trike.)
Weis is president of environmental consulting firm Climate Crisis Solutions and lately has been doing work with the wind energy industry. He's been frustrated by the wishy-washy climate bills approved by Congress and the slow pace of support for green energy.
Renewable
His main goal is a 100% renewable electricity grid for the U.S. by 2020. He writes:
“My intention is to launch a new national conversation around America's energy and climate policies, while building grassroots support for this revolutionary green energy paradigm shift.
“This is about everyday Americans “taking back our power” by demanding a green industrial revolution that will put unemployed Americans back to work, reestablish our role as world economic leader, and help ensure future generations a livable planet.”
Petition
He is seeking signatures for a petition that he wants to deliver to President Obama and congressmen. It calls for the use of solar, wind and geothermal power, phasing out coal-fired powerplants, retraining coal miners for green-energy jobs, and creating policies that ensure Americans can sell home-created green power into the grid.
You can sign the 100% Green Grid by 2020 Petition online.
Weis is calling his adventure the Ride for Renewables; he has a website by that name and also a blog. I've been reading some of his entries the past few days from his ride through the Central Plains and into Kentucky and Ohio.
Rail-trail
mong other things, he wrote about some of the wind farms he visited, as well as some coal-fired power plants and coal mines and mine disaster locations. There's also lots of video, including one interesting segment of Weis inside his trike during a downpour in Ohio.
Weis last posted at his blog that he was spending Thanksgiving evening in a small Pennsylvania town where he'd been marooned by icy roads and trails. He was near the end of the Great Allegheny Passage rail-trail and hoping that the Big Savage Tunnel would remain open long enough for him to get through.
Elsewhere, he says he's about 110 miles from Washington DC.
Let's hope he makes it the rest of the way to Capitol Hill safely, and finds congressmen who are receptive to his plans.
Recent Comments