Climate Change Bicyclists Promote Clean Energy

When the five-member New Hampshire Climate Summer team pedaled into Portsmouth on Sunday, they knew their message to promote clean energy over fossil fuel would be well received.

For several years, Portsmouth has demonstrated itself to be a very progressive, forward thinking city when it comes to sustainability, observed Olivia Cook, the team media coordinator from Lakeland, Fla.

This is why the climate activists' believe the coal-fired Schiller Station owned by Public Service New Hampshire in nearby Newington needs to go.

The five women have spent their summer bicycling to seven New Hampshire communities since June and are working with the Green Alliance and Sierra Club of New Hampshire to stage targeting the Schiller Station plant.

Along the way, Cook said the team has walked the walk of sustainability by volunteering their time to help out at organic farms and help groups who want to add clean energy.

"We've worked on Star Island with the staff there on their plan to go solar and grew their own food," Cook said.

In Portsmouth, team member Hillary Bernhardt said they will work with Zero Waste Now and Zev Yoga Studio in Portsmouth to promote their message that the community needs to go with as much clean energy as possible by moving away from fossil fuels, or dirty energy.

"We're just trying to send a message that the community doesn't want this coal-fire power plant," said Bernhardt, who is from Millersville, Md., and attends Sarah Lawrence College in New York.

Cook said they are also inviting the community to create postcards for an art project that they will send to PSNH officials along with a letter calling for the closure of Schiller Station.

When asked why they believe Schiller Station needs to go, Cook said the reasons are many and range from the upper respiratory problems caused by burning coal in the air to overall quality of life. Bernhardt said coal-fired plants also contribute to climate change, or global warming of the Earth's atmosphere.

During an interview on Tuesday afternoon, Cook, Bernhardt and Ann DeSanctis, a 2009 graduate of the University of Kentucky, said this was the first year they had participated in this climate change campaign.

DeSanctis said she is an avid bicyclists who likes touring and joined the group at first for that reason. She later liked the fact they would be touring to promote clean energy.

"I knew I needed to get out in the world and do something about climate change," said Cook.

Bernhardt said that while some people may look at the rally they are planning on Saturday as a small gesture toward getting away from coal-fired energy, she said she wanted to able to say to her children someday that she did her part to try and create a better world.

Following their week in Portsmouth, Cook said the climate change team will visit Concord before ending their summer-long tour in Arlington, Vt. on Aug. 11. The tour will officially end on Aug. 18 when they will go their separate ways after living on a budget of $5 per day and sleeping in church halls or people's homes in different cities and towns.

When asked what type of impact the team will have on the issue of promoting greater clean energy use, Cook said it is hard to quantify in one sense. But by visiting so many communities and encouraging them to move to a healthier environment, she said they know they have contributed something worthwhile.

"To build a movement you have to build the relationships," Cook said.