Ride350 Dispatch: The Beginning

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[Guest bloggers Lily Abood, Ben Jervey, and Adam Taylor will be writing from the road next week while biking 350 miles to raise awareness of climate change issues. This post is the first in the Mother Jones Ride350 Dispatch series.]

Climate change research tells us that unless we reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause irreversible damage to the planet. But is 350 really the most important number on Earth? Bill McKibben thinks so, and so do we. That’s why Ben, Adam, and I will be riding bicycles 350 miles from Arcata to San Francisco on October 19-24. We’ll do this with the support of 350.org, an international coalition of concerned individuals building a global grassroots climate movement around the most important number on the planet: 350.

For us, riding 350 miles along the northern California coast is a small yet important act of solidarity to spread the word about climate change. Along the way, we plan to engage local activists, politicians, school children, and everyday citizens to mobilize for change as well. We don’t claim to be climate experts, or the most knowledgeable activists on the road, but our hearts are in the right place and we’re motivated to help. Many of us, like you, have already started making small changes in our daily lives to minimize carbon emissions—packing reusable grocery bags, switching off lights when we leave the room, and recycling everything we can (clothes, plastics, cars, apartments), etc. But together we can do more.

350.org is an international organization calling everyday citizens to action with the belief that raising awareness around the number 350 will put pressure on world leaders to aggressively address climate change, causing a paradigm shift in how individual countries approach a global problem. The organization asks only that we take action to spread the number—how we choose to do so is completely up to us. (For inspiration, check out this action being organized in the Middle East.)

As a team, we look forward to keeping in touch with the Mother Jones community as we make this journey. Please leave comments with your thoughts, words of encouragement, and any suggestions of places to see, people to meet, or actions to take as we ride from Arcata to San Francisco. And, if you’re in the Bay Area, please consider welcoming us home in San Francisco on October 24 for 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action. Groups like Greenpeace, the Mobilization for Climate Justice, and Global Exchange are organizing the event, and it promises to be an inspiring day.—Lily Abood

Adam Taylor is a green building consultant in San Francisco. While a bicycle enthusiast, he has never done anything like Ride350 before in his life—you can tell by looking at his legs. Ben Jervey is a journalist, activist, world traveler, great wedding dancer, and looks great in spandex. Lily Abood has worked with nonprofits in the Bay Area for 10 years (including her current role as Mother Jones’ Major Gifts Officer). She plans to hug a lot of CA redwoods while she’s on this adventure. For more information about the entire Ride350 team, check out the rider profiles here.

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Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

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