Why Bike Advocates Need To Be Involved In Climate and Climate Justice Campaigns

Happy World Car Free Day! We hope you will be joining us in getting out of the car today and enjoy a more joyful, cleaner mode of transportation, whether biking, walking, rolling, or taking local transit. 

If you have ridden a bike you know that there are so many reasons to “Drive Less, Bike More”: it’s fun, it’s good for your health and, because sustainable transportation is one way for an individual to reduce their carbon footprint, it’s good for the environment. That’s why the League, and many biking and walking advocacy organizations like it, are working to align ourselves with environmental advocates. Together, we can use the link between increasing sustainable transportation, equity and climate to strengthen our collective call for a full system of connected transportation options that will make it safer and easier for people everywhere to choose non-emitting modes of travel, like biking and walking, and ultimately make car-dependency nonexistent in communities across America so that more days can be like Car Free Day. 

Here are three ways you can join the League in our mission to make Car Free Day every day:

• #1 is to keep loving and embracing bikes! The more you get out and choose to ride your bike to the store, to work, to a friend’s house or to just about anywhere, the more you will prove to yourself and others that choosing bicycling is possible and we should have safe and appropriate infrastructure and facilities to make it possible everywhere. Join the League’s “Drive Less, Bike More” challenge and log your miles to help us reach 2 million miles of trips made by bike by the end of 2022.
• Take Action to hold leaders accountable for climate action. The League has submitted comments in support of a rule that would push our nation towards a greener future and we are asking you to do the same. Show your support for the new Greenhouse Gas Performance Measure that would incentivize states and metro areas to invest in things like safe and connected bike infrastructure to meet reduced emission goals.
• Become a League member and demand Safe Streets For All. With our growing coalition of advocates across the country, we’re building safer streets by expanding funding for infrastructure, while we empower advocates, cities and states to reorient communities around biking and walking, not vehicle speed.

For more on how climate justice and bike advocacy intertwine and how our better bicycling partners on the ground are making a difference, watch a recording of the 2022 National Bike Summit session on “Why Bike Advocates Need To Be Involved In Climate and Climate Justice Campaigns” below.

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