The below is by elephantjournal.com’s Lindsey Cash, producer of our Walk the Talk Show:

When hundreds of bikers arrived in the center of Boulder, Colorado this past Saturday, October 24, 2009, their excitement and energy was contagious. They had spent the morning in a group show of support for less local reliance on coal for our electricity. In doing so, they rode their bikes to Boulder’s Valmont coal plant, staged a protest and returned to downtown to rally, all the while toting green hardhats, bells and whistles, streamers, banners and music.

Though their call for a change in energy dependence was an inspirational demonstration of the power of community, their efforts were still met with objection.

The sheer number of participating bicyclists caused disgruntled drivers, caught at a standstill, to lie on their horns. And it was this simple juxtaposition—that of advocates for less CO2 emissions and the drivers’ unwillingness to be delayed—that drove home (pun intended!) the necessity of the impending rally.

The arrival of the protesting bicyclists signaled the start of Boulder’s local edition of 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action. Over the course of the two-hour rally, the crowd heard from 15 different speakers, including an appearance and short speech from Representative Jared Polis. The range of speakers included representatives from the health, scientific, and academic communities, as well as local organizations and media outlets such as Mothers Acting Up and yours truly, on behalf of our elephantjournal.com.

Overall, Saturday’s events were moving and encouraging, but it has yet to be determined how the human species will actually enact change to reduce global warming. And though speakers rightfully called for individual lifestyle changes, as well as policy changes, Lester Brown says in his interview with Waylon Lewis, that the key to turning around the situation lies with the media. These days, however, the media isn’t just The New York Times or Vanity Fair or what have you—it’s you and I, our blogs, our tweets, our facebook status updates, or videos on youtube, our sharing via email and text.

elephantjournal.com and countless others’ coverage of and participation in Saturday’s events is a fine start, but larger educational efforts need to be launched in both mainstream media and social media to inspire the masses—not just the choir—to care about decreasing climate change.