Voyage For Clean Energy: 2041

I had the opportunity to attend an environmental lecture last May in Santa Barbara, CA and although I am only now writing about it, the subject of the lecture has stuck with me all these many months. A few years earlier the issue of Global Warming seemed to have hit the main steam with the release of the film, An Inconvenient Truth, and since then it has been a topic of conversation, conflict, and concern with us all. If you did not know any better, then it would have seemed as if this issue was only a few years old and that Al Gore was the only person working to solve this problem. When in reality there have been many others who have devoted their lives to bringing about global awareness and solutions to environmental issues.

Well, on May 21 of last last year the lecturer was Robert Swan. He is a polar explorer, environmental leader, motivational speaker, and the first man ever to walk to both the North and South poles. On that day he was speaking about his history, past experiences, and most notably his ongoing effort to preserve Antarctica, earth's last untouched wilderness. Currently, the development of Antarctica is prohibited by the Antarctic Treaty of 1991. April 2008 marked the beginning of Robert's 5 year Voyage for Cleaner Energy on his boat, the "2041",that will culminate with his report to the U.N. at the 2012 World Summit on Sustainability. His primary goal is to ensure that the Antarctic Treaty is renewed for at least another 50 years and I think the quote from Robert below sums it up best:

His boat, the "2041", is powered by 100% renewable energy including solar panels, bio-fuels, and wind turbines. Also, through his partnership with the Coca-Cola Company, it is also the only boat in the world with a sail that is made from recycled plastic bottles.

The first and second phases of his voyage have passed, but if you have the opportunity to attend any of his stops in Phase 3 (Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, etc.) or Phase 4 (Europe, Middle East, Asia), I highly recommend it. If you have any concern at all for ensuring that our children will have a clean earth to live in for centuries to come, then hearing Robert speak may be that spark that ignites in you the motivation to take action and help spread his word.