Dan Monte is raising awareness of climate change and peace with a cross-country bike trip from San Rafael to Washington, D.C.

Early on Memorial Day, the San Rafael resident started his trip at the Civic Center Lagoon where his friends and supporters wished him well and came to see him off.

Climate change “is only intensified by war, and that there is no solution to climate change that does not include peace,” Monte wrote in a letter about his trip. He believes that America still has a choice to find solutions to the consequences of climate change, or to continue to wreck havoc on the environment through war and fear.

The U.S. Department of Defense has said that climate change poses a serious national security threat. Yet, American military operations have greatly contributed to the climate problem, and is reversing our progress on improving environmental standards, said Monte. Raging war is extremely carbon intensive.

If we are serious about reversing climate change, we should then stand up against the fear mongering and propaganda supporting war and reject militarism, Monte said.

“We should also face our fears and seek for peaceful alternatives other than war,” he said, “And we should demand that our leaders not dominate others for their resources through war.”

“Climate change is the real threat to our security,” said Monte. “Environmentalists need to assert that there exists no military path to climate security.”

Dan Monte can be contacted at danmonte33@gmail.com, (707) 393-1948 or on his blog at bicyclingforpeace.blogspot.com. He can also be found on Facebook at Bicycling for Peace and Environmental Justice.

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