August 26th - On the road to Chicago!

We just spent the better part of last week in the surprising progressive hot-spot of Bloomington, Indiana! The town was great. Lots of good folks and an amazing Greenpeace Project Hot Seat coordinator - Edyta! Together we worked to pressure Rep. Baron Hill at a Democratic party golf outing and deliver a copy of the Safe Climate Act, which he still seems to claim he hasn't been asked to sign.

The Safe Climate Act is the gold standard for global warming legislation. It has 140 co-sponsors, but Baron Hill isn't one of them--yet!

On Saturday we made those delicious solar smoothies at the Bloomington Farmers market. We met some incredible volunteers that revived our love for campaigning and the excitement found in meeting new people from all over.

We had plenty of relaxing time sitting around the campfire, swimming in Lake Monroe and traveling thru Indiana.

We got our date's mixed a bit and we are heading to Chicago a day earlier than planned. My brother Andy has offered to put us up for the night. Anyone in and around the Chicago area drop me a line if you'ld like to meet up or come to any of our events. Right now - we honestly don't know what they will be - but that's part of the fun right?!

Much Love -- Amanda
906/ 250.0296

August 20th - Kalamazoo, Michigan

We're in Kalamazoo! And it's raiiiiiiny. Very rainy. We drove 13.5 hours yesterday to get here, just under the official 14 hours that we are allowed to be on the road according to the official trucker rules that we are following on the road. We are crashing with Justin, the Project Hot Seat organizer here, and we had our first event today. We made some delicious solar smoothies and got a bunch of letters written to Representative Fred Upton, who happens to love nuclear as a sustainable energy alternative. Ick.

 
We had some great high school kids helping us out today who were excited about the campaign and thrilled to have something to do for a few hours because apparently life is pretty boring for the high school crowd around here. They got all jazzed up in Hot Seat gear and talked to the public. They were great and gave me hope for the future!

love to all.
lauren

August 18th - Greetings from Pennsylvania

We just finished up our second official event of the tour. Last night we made solar-smoothies for the good people of Phoenixville, and today we held an event with the area Project Hot Seat coordinator, Pete, and his son Max, outside an eco-grocery in Dowingtown, PA.  Tonight we will take some time to plan and adjust to life on the road and relax around our campsite! Next stop - Kalamazoo, Michigan!

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d be sitting on top of this much power. Only an astronaut (and maybe Elvis in his heyday) knows how this feels. I’m talking about being behind the wheel of the Rolling Sunlight, Greenpeace’s mobile demonstration and educational vehicle showcasing clean energy technologies that I, along with three other lucky souls, will be piloting across America for a month.

The idea behind our expedition is to draw attention to global warming and what we all can do to slow it. I think we can all agree that the global warming future is not one that we want. We can also agree to prevent it. To do so we must look to the clean alternatives that are available and use the electricity that is generated in our society responsibly. Enter the Rolling Sunlight, a bio-diesel chugging, solar powered powerhouse that proves that with a big dose of ingenuity and a dash of fun, we can do anything, even reshape our energy economy into one built upon renewable energy.

I can’t wait to see the looks on people’s faces when we roll into campsites and parking lots with this baby. To keep us powered we’ll be drinking solar smoothies made in blender powered by the sun. If you see us on the road you’d better stop for one. They’re delicious.

Along the long asphalt trail from Washington D.C. to San Francisco we’ll also be promoting Project Hot Seat, Greenpeace’s campaign to force Congress to act on global warming NOW. PHS is working from coast to coast and Congress is starting to listen. Just last week they passed an energy bill with a national renewable energy standard. Now we need them keep to it up and pass an increase to car fuel efficiency and cap global warming emissions.

I hope you’ll join us on our adventure this month by reading our trip blog. We’ll tell you about what we see, who we meet, and about the amazing capacity of our renewable ride.

Until then,