Step It Up!

For Earth Day I spent my time in Bethel but the rest of my buddies marched, rallied and demonstrated on the streets of Albany, Battery Park, Middlebury, Portland, Lenox, Troy and D.C. Miss Nola Royce and the Adirondack Mountain Climbing Club made all the local papers with their 11-mile ascent to the top of Whiteface Mnt in foggy, slippery conditions. It was all to draw attention to the skyrocking problem of carbon emissions in this country, China and India organized by Step It Up.

"Places like Whiteface would be the last redoubt of a vanishing winter, so high-altitude trips like Saturday's could become a necessity for those who want to see snow," writes editor for the Times Union, Brian Nearing. The group of 8 advocates probably was the smallest of all 1400 events happening nationwide on Saturday. Millions united to push Congress to cut greenhouse gases 80% by 2050. Both numbers seemingly feel almost impossible but the damaging consequences of not doing it are very real.

So if you missed a gathering this weekend, do your part this Spring and plant a tree, buy a hybrid or ride a bike! Okay, that's my green speech for this week.