Who's a New Patriot? Meet PJ Park

For most Americans, biking to and from work is a tall ask. But, for PJ Park, the 11.2-mile round trip daily bike ride was only the warm up to something much, much bigger.

After starting a bike co-op in his home town to share biking tips and repair tools, PJ soon found himself entertaining a radical (some might say crazy) idea – combining his passion for fighting global warming with his passion for biking and his lifelong desire to move to Brazil.

What followed was a personal odyssey on two wheels. PJ set out last September to pedal from his home in suburban Maryland along the spine of the Americas to Brazil, proselytizing on the importance of global warming action along the way. He documented every leg of his journey on his blog, http://biketobrazil.blogspot.com/ – which could also be renamed The Bicycle Diaries. For more, read our interview with PJ.

Nice work, PJ. Your activism and dedication, not to mention your personal endurance, are inspirations for us all.

Now it's your turn. Do you know someone who similarly embodies the spirit of our New Patriotism campaign? If so, we'd love to hear about it.

Please share the Name, City, State and Story of a New Patriot you know in a comment below.

Third Draft of the Declaration

Global warming is the crisis of our time.

As we prepare to celebrate our nation’s birthday, we renew our commitment to the qualities and values that have guided our nation for more than 200 years.

Today, we recognize that patriotism is not only about love of country. It is also about a shared commitment to the welfare of our planet.

Future generations will judge us based on our success or failure to be good stewards of the Earth. We owe our children and our children’s children nothing less than our very best effort.

We the undersigned, pledge to:

• Recognize that we live in a time of crisis. We must be active and forceful in bringing about the necessary changes -- based on science, not politics -- to stop global warming, no matter how difficult that may be.
• Be active citizens, by pressing our elected officials to take urgent action now, and by pressing all candidates for office to commit to passing strong legislation to cut America's global warming pollution.
• Spread the word, by making sure our friends, neighbors and loved ones recognize that each of us has a role to play in meeting this all-important challenge.
• Be mindful consumers, by minimizing our personal global warming “footprint" and weighing our personal choices against the needs and rights of future generations.

This nation's founders risked everything to realize a new relationship between government and the governed. We must now do whatever is necessary to realize a new relationship with the web of life that includes and sustains us.

The Second Draft of the Declaration

Global warming is the crisis of our time.

As we prepare to celebrate our nation’s birthday, we renew our commitment to the qualities and values that have guided our nation for more than 200 years.

Today, we recognize that patriotism is not only about love of country. It is also about a shared commitment to the welfare of our planet.

Future generations will judge us based on our success or failure to be good stewards of the Earth. We owe our children and our children’s children nothing less than our very best effort.

We the undersigned, pledge to:

• Be mindful consumers, by minimizing our personal global warming “footprint;”
• Be active citizens, by pressing our elected officials to take urgent action now, and by pressing all candidates for office to commit to passing strong legislation to cut America's global warming pollution;
• Spread the word, by educating our friends, neighbors and loved ones and making sure they recognize that each of us has a role to play in meeting this all-important challenge.

Declaration of New Patriotism

Global warming is the crisis of our time.

As we prepare to celebrate our nation’s birthday, we renew our commitment to the qualities and values that have guided our nation for more than 200 years.

We the undersigned, pledge to:

• Be mindful consumers, by minimizing our personal global warming “footprint;”


• Be active citizens, by pressing our elected officials to take urgent action now, and by pressing all candidates for office to commit to passing strong legislation to cut America's global warming pollution;
  

Please help us add to this declaration. Add your comments by clicking "Comments" or "Post a Comment" below.

Thank you.