Authors: Katherine Ball with Malkolm Boothroyd, Solutions Revolution youth cyclists

It’s been 290 miles since I’ve seen a car. Not everyday is on a bike path, some days we’re bicycling on freeways, backroads, mountain passes, residential streets, striking the balance between the shortest distance and the safest ride across the country. Sometimes that plan backfires, like the time a snowstorm hit and we had to hitch a ride with a narcoleptic who sang opera to stay awake and swore climate change doesn’t exist because the Lord has promised four seasons. This last stretch just happens to be on a circa 1830 donkey path for towing boats up a canal paralleling the Potomac River. Today, we’ll make it to Washington D.C. to meet with 20 legislative offices, and I have just a few more miles to reflect on this bicycle journey from Portland, Oregon to Washington, D.C.:

3,094 miles, 91 days, 13 states, 21 communities, 4 bicyclists, 1 support car driver, and 45 solutions to the climate crisis. In August 2010, Alec Neal and I began the Solutions Revolution---a cross country bicycle trip filming a documentary about local communities solutions to the climate crisis. Even though we didn’t know how to change a flat tire, we planned to bike from Portland, Oregon to Washington D.C., take a train down to Florida and sail across the Gulf of Mexico to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico. We were joined by Malkolm Boothroyd, an 18 year old from Whitehorse Yukon who biked 13,000 miles following migratory birds two years before; Don “Peacerider” Ross, a 67 year old from Fairbanks, Alaska who biked from Alaska to DC the year before; and Paul Thompson, a 61 year old community organizer and Cool Planet founder.

These are some of the solutions we filmed along the way:

Grayland, Washington - Wind Energy Funds Social Services

After dipping our bicycles in the Pacific Ocean near the rural town of Grayland, Washington, we interviewed the CFO for the nonprofit Coastal Community Action Program, which recently built the first coastal wind farm in the Pacific Northwest. With just four turbines, they expect to earn $500,000 a year to put towards their social services for elderly, low-income, and mentally diverse peoples. They are the first nonprofit in the country to augment their financial base with wind energy and to combine low income tax credits with renewable energy tax credits—a “wind-win.”

Oakville, Washington - Wild Forestry

With the wind at our backs, we pedal 57 miles inland to Oakville to interview Washington’s Forester of the Year, John Henrikson at Wild Thyme Farm about “wild forestry” practices: harvesting wood from a forest at as wild of state as possible to hit the sweet spot between high timber, high carbon, and high biodiversity. Henrikson hypothesizes over time he will be able to harvest more timber out of the forest through wild forestry than with clear cutting or conventional selective harvesting.

Sandpoint, Idaho - Micro Hydro

Turning off the beaten path, we arrive at the home of Chris Park, a local furniture maker who powers his hand-built, off-grid home with a micro hydropower system. The Harris Hydro Turbine is basically a 24 volt truck alternator attached to a Pelton wheel. Creek water is transferred to the turbine through a 4’’ underground pipe that drops 50 feet in 700 feet of run. There are four nozzles that shoot water at right angles on to the Pelton wheel, which spins the alternator, like in your car, and generates power. The turbine generates 25 amps continuously, enough to power everything except for the stove and fridge. The system cost $5,000 to install and has provided all of his power for over 15 years, requiring only 2 hours of maintenance per year.

Bozeman, Montana - Carbon Neutral Biofuel Brewed from Fungi

398 miles southeast---including 50 miles on the I-90 freeway---the we cross over Bozeman Pass heading to Montana State University to meet with mycologist Gary Strobel about his recent discovery of Glicocladium roseum, an endophytic fungus that produces biofuel. Strobel is testing the fungus to see if it will digest cellulose and emit biofuel. Since cellulose can come from any plant matter including agricultural waste (like corn husks), this could be the first carbon neutral biofuel.

Town of Dunn, Wisconsin - Purchase of Development Rights

Up and over the glacial drumlins of northwest Wisconsin, we roll through the cookie-cutter suburbs of Madison and into the rural Town of Dunn. Here, Chairman Cal DeWitt recounts the town’s history: In 1986, the rural land was preserved when Dunn’s residents gathered at the town hall and voted unanimously to raise their own taxes to pay for the purchase of development rights from their farmers. Otherwise, the land would have been developed because many farmers needed to sell their land to pay for retirement. Developing the land would increase the Town’s carbon footprint and taxes, since they would have to build new roads, sewer systems, street lights, schools, etc. Residents had to “raise their taxes to lower their taxes.”

Detroit, Michigan - Pregnant Teens’ Urban Farm

A third of all residential lots in Detroit are either vacant or contain abandoned homes. Detroit’s bulldozing initiative has rendered the cityscape a patchwork of tall-grassed vacant lots, caving-in abandoned houses, and inhabited homes. In downtown, we visited the Catherine Ferguson Academy, a public school for pregnant teens and preteens. When science teacher Paul Weertz discovered formaldehyde in dissection animals is harmful to pregnant women, he realized he needed to find another way for students to receive an equal educational experience without the toxins. So Weertz and the students started a farm in the lots behind the school---complete with a red barn, chickens, geese, goats, orchards, vegetable plots, bees, and even a horse. In addition to growing and selling produce in Detroit’s food desert, the teens use the farm as their laboratory. Whenever an animal dies, the whole school gathers dissect it to discover the cause of death. When it was brought to Weertz’s attention that someone was stealing compost he replied, “So what? It’s not cocaine. What do you think they are doing they are doing with it? They are growing stuff with it and that is what we want.”

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Growing Alternative Energy on Vacant Lots

Across the Rust Belt and into the Steel City, we arrive at a reused material playground in a blighted neighborhood and are greeted by Chris Koch of GTECH Strategies, a nonprofit investing in community revitalization with alternative energy, land reclamation, green tech and social enterprise. One of GTECH’s strategies is growing alternative energy on vacant lots as a transitional, short-term strategy to productive reuse. The Black Street Moms’ Playground started as two torn down vacant houses. GTECH cleaned up the rubble and planted sunflower seeds which uptake lead from the soil, reduce blight by beautifying the neighborhood, and can be converted into biodiesel. In the fall, the neighborhood kids helped harvest the flowers and learned about biodiesel conversion. The community transformed the lots into a natural playground because the lots border a home for mothers dealing with addiction where there were 30 kids without anywhere where to play.

Meeting with Politicians in Washington D.C.

Our goal in D.C. was to inform politicians about climate crisis solutions their constituents are working on across America. We were able to meet with 20 legislative offices, including Rep. Henry Waxman, Sen. John McCain, Sen. John Kerry, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Sen. Patty Murray, Sen. Jeff Merkley, and Sen. Al Franken. Fellow rider Malkolm Boothroyd summed up DC better than I ever could:

“Everyday was a blur of the same things–the reflections of incandescent lights in marble floors…the swish of suits…the clicking of high-heels…the endless ringing of telephones in congressional offices… It’s even hard for me to distinguish one meeting from another. All the Democrats we spoke with shared the same gloom about the future of climate legislation… ‘If we couldn’t pass the cap and trade when we had sixty votes how will we do anything with just fifty three?' Nobody offered any ambitious game-plan; all the Democrats were focused on seemed to be to preserve the Environmental Protection Agency’s funding and ability to regulate carbon emissions. Republicans we spoke to advocated an “all of the above” energy strategy that would rely heavily on nuclear, natural gas and carbon capture and storage.

What is the outlook for our future if Republicans and Democrats can’t agree on an issue that threatens to wreak havoc on global peace, national security, economic prosperity and environmental health? If scientists tell us we have just five years before global emissions must start taking a nosedive—then how will anything happen if the United States won’t get any legislation passed in the next two or possibly four years?

Despite all the depressing realities of government inaction and indifference I still am optimistic. Over the past three months I’ve met hundreds of dedicated citizens across the United States who are working on solutions to climate change…I know when enough citizens mobilize and take the lead on climate change then governments will follow. Yes, I was bummed out by our week of lobbying senators and representatives, but as long as there are motivated citizens working for a stable climate and a renewable energy economy I will always have hope.

Route Map: