Save Our Snow

23 January 2007--Last week Clif Bar launched a new tour for the winter called the Save Our Snow (S.O.S.) Winter Roadtrip. Using a vegetable oil powered, environmentally-friendly RV, the Roadtrip will visit ski resorts throughout North America to inform and inspire thousands of winter enthusiasts to help stop global warming.

Alison Gannett, former world free skiing champion and a Team Clif Bar athlete, joined the tour in Las Vegas. Gannett, who operates her own environmental consulting firm, will present a powerful multimedia show, and is interviewed here by TreeHugger.com (abridged).

1) Many people have doubted that the lack of snow this year is due to global warming: do you disagree?
Yes, I disagree and I think everyone participating in the Clif Bar Save our Snow Winter Roadtrip would disagree. There have been scientific advances that allow for the test molecules of CO2, which are human induced, and which are naturally occurring. Our Earth is warming naturally, however we are off the charts as to where we are supposed to be, and where we are going. The general trend of global warming is there.
2) I've been reading so many articles lately on "green" ski areas – are the ones that you are visiting "green?"
Yes, some of them are in varying degrees. Clif Bar has partnered with several of the ski areas on our Roadtrip to offset the energy used to power their lifts, including Alta (UT), Park City (UT), Northstar (CA) and Stevens Pass (WA). Aspen is the defacto leader in the green ski movement and started their initiatives way before it was "cool."
3) After being a world champion freeskier, what made you become interested and involved in the environmental, specifically global warming?
I am a life long environmentalist that became a champion freeskier. I’m afraid of global warming destroying my lifeblood—the mountain snowpack. This snowpack provides us our playground, but also drinking water for 80% of the planet. As a member of Team Clif Bar, a company that makes it a bottom-line priority to protect the environment, this roadtrip provides a great opportunity for both of us to bring the issue of global warming directly to thousands of winter sports enthusiasts.
5) In your slideshow, you're speaking about simple ways consumers can help keep winter cool and save how we can save our snow.
The Clif Bar S.O.S. Winter Roadtrip highlights five simple actions anyone can take. If we all took these simple steps it would have a dramatic impact on global warming. They are:
-Buy Renewable Energy: Renewable energy helps reduce greenhouse gas emission.
-Eat Local, Organic Foods: Organic farming practices use 30-50% less fossil fuels, which when burned create “greenhouse” gases.
-Use CFL Light Bulbs: Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) use about 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than classic incandescents while emitting the same light.
-Reduce Reuse, Recycle, Rot: For every pound of waste eliminated or recycled, you save energy and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by at least 1 pound.
-Carpooling, Buying a Hybrid or Switching to Biodiesel: Saves money on gas, drastically reduces CO2 emissions, and reduces dependency on oil.
These tips are available to anyone on Clif Bar's S.O.S. website.
6) What do you do on a daily basis to help the planet?
I believe that everything starts at home. I live in environmentally friendly house that I built 10 years ago. It is built from local straw, local wood and non-toxic building materials. Its solar design also includes solar hot water panels. I use CFL's and have super energy efficient appliances. For example, my refrigerator uses less energy in a year than a general one in one month. There's a great website you can visit from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy that compares energy efficiency from almost anything. I also started my non-profit, the Save Our Snow Foundation.
7) What kind of year do you think 2007 will be?
In 2006 I think that people were finally starting to become educated. So it's positive that they are moving out of denial but I think they are moving from denial to despair. The question becomes: when are people going to take action? So many people are educated, yet they continue to fire up their snowmobile on a daily basis. I'm hoping 2007 is the year people take action. It's a tough connection for many and the reason why Clif Bar and I are conducting the S.O.S. Winter Roadtrip is because we believe we have to make it personal. If it's going to affect something that people really love, like skiing, they will take action.

SOURCE: http://www.treehugger.com

Links:
Save Our Snow http://www.saveoursnowfoundation.org/
Clif Bar S.O.S site http://www.saveoursnowfoundation.org/
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy that http://www.aceee.org/

LINK :
Save Our Snow