Polis To Skiers: We Need Your Help On Climate Change

Press Release

Polis To Skiers: We Need Your Help On Climate Change

Colorado Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO)--who represents winter sports Meccas of Keystone, Breckenridge, Winter Park, Arapahoe Basin, Loveland, Copper Mountain, and Vail--teamed up this week with Teton Gravity Research, The North Face, and Clif Bar to bring snowboarding star Jeremy Jones and adventure sports filmmaker Steve Jones to Washington to highlight the damage that climate change is already having on the ski industry and to encourage skiers to spread the word that Congress needs their help.

"The ski industry is the lifeblood of my district and climate change is already taking a toll," said Polis. "These athletes are on the front lines of this crisis, watching snow, ice, and communities disappear all over the world. In sharing their story with Congress, they are sharing the stories of many communities who are desperately watching their way of life disappear with the warming planet. While the loss of skiing isn't the worst consequence of climate change, these individuals show us how we all stand to be personally affected by this global problem."

Polis hosted a Capitol Hill screening of Teton Gravity Research's new documentary "Generations," with special guests pro-snowboard legend Jeremy Jones and adventure sports film pioneer and founder of Teton Gravity Research Steve Jones, whose live film events attract over 80,000 people per year throughout the country and countless more through DVD and television. The film features cameos by skiing and snowboarding's top professionals, humanizing and contextualizing the issue in a new and more personal way. You can view the film in its entirety at http://www.thenorthface.com/generations.

Jeremy and Steve also met with Congressmen Polis (CO), Inslee (WA), and Welch (VT), accompanied by Chris Steinkamp (Executive Director of Protect Our Winters), Elysa Hammond (Director of sustainability for Cliff Bar), and Elizabeth Burakowski (a University of New Hampshire Climatologist who has studied the multi-million dollar impact of shortened ski seasons on the New Hampshire ski industry). Their discussions focused on the immediate economic impacts of climate change and how the outdoor industry, a new player in this issue, can leverage major resources in the fight for climate action.

"Many people think that investing in "green jobs' means simply building windmills or installing solar panels, but forget about the many jobs--restaurants, ski lifts, hotels, winter equipment and clothing companies, and small community businesses--that suffer as the ski seasons grow shorter and shorter," said Polis. "Passing a strong climate bill will save jobs in Colorado and small towns across the country."

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