Peace Transit
Energy, War & Global Climate ChangeMEDIA - BOWLING GREEN KY
|
|
Peace TransitEnergy, War & Global Climate ChangeMEDIA - BOWLING GREEN KY |
|
Cyclists pedal for peace, environment By JUSTIN STORY, The Daily News Bowling Green KY Friday, November 9, 2007 A pedal-powered movement for peace is making its way through Bowling Green as part of a nationwide ride. Peace Transit, the brainchild of a group of Louisville activists, has been conceived as a tour of the nation by bike, with riders along the way asking elected officials and others they meet to reduce their commitments to energy consumption and war. Jackie Green, owner of a bike shop and courier service in Louisville, helped conceptualize the ride, laying out an ambitious goal to have teams of cyclists crossing the nation a few miles at a time. Green said the transit is taking on the form of a relay, in which teams of cyclists pass a baton from one stop to the next along the way. The first group of riders left Saturday from Louisville. “This is not just a personal journey that one or three people are doing and sharing with others,” said Green, who hasn’t owned a car since 1999. “It’s a journey that others are doing themselves and taking initiative. I just helped get it out of Louisville.” The plan calls for teams of cyclists to make their way to New Orleans, ride along the Gulf of Mexico to the tip of Florida and up the Atlantic Coast to New York, where two teams will set out with one going through Canada and the other along the upper Midwest. The relay teams will reunite on the West Coast, make their way back through the Southwest to New Orleans and finally end up back in Louisville. Green said he saw bicycle riding as the most effective way to strike a blow for energy efficiency and combat the effects of global warming. Green sees the U.S. reliance on oil becoming more financially, politically and environmentally costly. Reducing energy consumption by driving less would have the effect of minimizing climate change and reducing international competition for oil that could result in war, he said. “Transportation is a large player in climate change and links with so many other areas in our lives,” Green said. Jim Duffer is hosting the leg of the relay that stopped in Bowling Green. A group of five riders arrived here Thursday from Canmer, about 50 miles away in Hart County, to pass the baton to Duffer. He and Kent and Anne Ellis plan to ride Saturday to Portland, Tenn., about another 40 miles, to pass the baton on to the next group of riders. “I want to work here at being more sustainable and get involved with anything I can,” Duffer said. At each stop, the riders circulate a petition asking people to reduce motor vehicle use and their commitment to war. “All wars have ended at the conference table, so let’s cut out the fighting and come to the conference table,” Duffer said. Duffer said he hoped to pick up additional riders for Saturday. If the peace transit goes as planned, all the riders will have a chance to pedal the baton back to Louisville this time next year. Larry Hedgepeth, a farmer in Canmer, led his group into Bowling Green, meeting Duffer at Spencer’s Coffee House. Hedgepeth said between riding on the road and on a stationary bike, he spends about 3,500 miles a year on a bicycle, so Thursday’s trip wasn’t so strenuous. “I hope this raises as much awareness as I think it will,” Hedgepeth said. “There are a lot of problems the next generation is going to have to face.” - Picture by Joe Imel/Daily News Larry Hedgepeth (left) of Hart County and Jim Duffer of Bowling Green are taking part in the the Peace Transit, a group of environmentally conscious cyclists that are riding in a relay. The pair were in Bowling Green on Thursday. — For more information, visit http://www.peacetransit.org. Contact If you are interested in participating as a cyclist, as a host, as part of the logistics team, or as a signatory to the Peace Transit Petition please contact: peacetransit@gmail.com or Jackie Green, Bike Couriers Bike Shop, 107 W Market St, Louisville KY 40202, 502 583 2232. ======================================================================================== |