Many activists combating climate change have been accused of not walking their talk. This can't be said of Switzerland's Dr. Martin Vosseler, who wrapped up a walk across America to promote the use of solar power. That's right - he walked from Los Angeles to Boston - an estimated 3,500 miles. It wasn't exactly a walk in the park either; it took him from January 1 to August 19 of 2008, going through eight pairs of sandals. That's still faster than I could do - in a car.
My Brief Encounter with Vosseler
After an inspirational trip to the Brandywine River Museum in mid-July, Mom and I were crawling along the four-lane traffic of Route 1. This is a very dangerous stretch of highway for people in vehicles, let alone those walking along the non-existent verge. There is a verge, but it's only safe for people about six inches wide.
We looked to our right to see a tall, thin, white-haired fellow trudging along, hauling a travois draped in colorful cloth with an image of a sun on it. As the Dalai Lama was scheduled to talk the very next day in nearby Philadelphia, we wrongly assumed that he was a pilgrim on a spiritual mission and drove past.
Well, maybe he was a pilgrim, in a way. And yes, I've been hitting myself in the head for not getting Mom to pull the car over for an interview. However, I know I would have been stupid enough to offer him a ride into town, which would have defeated the whole point of SunWalk. You don't walk across the country only to cheat while going from Chadds Ford to Philadelphia.
Why A Walk?
Dr. Vosseler explains on his website that walking across the country, generating a lot of media attention, showed that an individual's actions do get noticed. Dr. Vosseler wasn't just walking and creating traffic jams, he was also making many public speaking engagements about his misadventures and getting the word out about renewable energy and global warming.
Besides, in 2003, he walked from Switzerland to Jerusalem. In 2007 he'd already crossed the Atlantic in sun21, a solar powered catamaran. He wanted a new challenge. Who knows what he has up his sleeve for 2009? Since Dr. Vosseler has been campaigning for renewable energy for over 20 years, he's gotten a taste for it.
