Hundreds Brave Icy Chesapeake Bay to Take “Polar Bear Plunge,” Largest Global Warming Event in Maryland History

Md. Event Among More than 30 Plunges Across the Country, Activists Demand Action on Global Warming as U.S. Congress Considers Energy Bill

Takoma Park, MD “People are willing to come out in these conditions because they are alarmed, truly alarmed by the evidence of climate change that they see everyday,” said Mike Tidwell, Director of CCAN. “They have seen the massive wildfires in California, record flooding in the northwest, and record heat waves and droughts in the southeast. They want government action now, and they’re willing to jump into icy water to make that demand heard,” he added.To avoid creating more greenhouse gases, carpooling was the order of the day. Several of the Plungers even rode their bikes to the Chesapeake Bay from as far away as Washington, DC, a distance of 35 miles. The event was also a fundraiser for CCAN’s climate change campaigns, netting over $60,000.The Chesapeake Bay Plunge was the largest of more than 30 Polar Bear Plunges happening across the country on Saturday, December 8, with media reports being aired on Plunges from Walden Pond in Massachusetts to Fairbanks, Alaska. This first National Polar Bear Plunge was held in conjunction with the International Day of Climate Action and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change taking place in Bali, Indonesia, from December 3-14. In Maryland, the Plunge also came at the end of a week that included the findings of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change and its recommendations for strong action.The Plunges also happened one day after the U.S. Senate failed to pass, at least temporarily, an energy bill that would mandate increased use of renewable energy and higher car mileage standards. This demonstrated the need for greatly increased pressure on Congress, a point not lost on the Plungers.

See photos at http://urltea.com/2c3b