Bikers to ride from WWU downtown Saturday as part of climate change rally

Ten bike rides from ten different schools across Bellingham will converge at Bellingham City Hall at noon on Saturday, Sept. 24 to call for local and national solutions to climate change. Mayor Dan Pike will join rally goers in calling for transition to a fossil fuel-free world.

Lauren Squires, of Western Washington University's Office of Sustainability, will speak at the event to share what Western is doing to lower its carbon footprint.

Event sponsors include Sierra Club, RE Sources, Cascade Community Wind, Transition Whatcom, Forest Ethics, Climate Solutions, and Surfrider Foundation who want to see common sense solutions to climate change. Speakers include Mayor Dan Pike and Alex Ramel from Sustainable Connections.

Rides depart at 11 a.m. from the front of the following schools: Happy Valley, Sunnyland, Kulshan, Shuksan, Fairhaven, Columbia, Larrabee, Silver Beach, WCC (in front of Laidlaw Building) and WWU (Red Square).

From noon to 1 p.m., Everybody Bike will hold a bike skills course. A climate rally and info fair takes place from noon to 2 p.m., at which time advanced riders will take off for Cherry Point.

The events are part of a worldwide day of action calling for a fossil fuel-free world. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to participate by moving their bodies toward solutions to climate change in nearly 2,000 events across the globe ranging from 5-mile hikes to 350-hour bike rides. In Washington, that includes events in Seattle, Everett, Snohomish and Issaquah.