Welcome to carbonstories.org. This site is now over five years old. It features over 100 blog posts that tell stories of over 20 bicycle tours. The first four years include over 90 blog posts about cycling tours completed solo by Michael Johnson Chase. In 2019, Jenny Hershey began joining Michael on his tours and contributing her drawings. We hope that Jenny’s drawings add a dimension that have both challenged and improved Michael’s observations.

Michael and Jenny are both fascinated and moved by how the changing climate on this earth impacts the lives of both American and world citizens. As a result, our blog posts usually focus on social and climate related issues. We typically travel by bicycle, and we hope that observations made at 10 to 15 miles an hour over days and weeks reveal an understanding often missed by faster modes of travel.

Certainly the world needs large policy changes to drive a rapid de-escalation of carbon-based fuels and an escalation to renewable energy sources, a regenerative transformation of our agricultural system that both heals our soil and restores carbon, and the restoration and protection of at least a third of our global land, freshwater and ocean resources to reestablish and protect the world’s biological diversity. At the time of writing this - in the spring of 2021 - it seems the US is stepping up as a global leader in the fight against climate change. Although we are in a race against time, it finally looks like we may have a chance to create a better future for future generations.

Yet, let's be clear-eyed about our situation. Human enterprise has baked in so much damage already to our atmosphere and oceans that we still won’t avoid some loss and disruption. The real question is just how much? And how do we come to terms with what we have done, and what we are likely to do, in spite of our best efforts?

We won’t fully come to terms with what we have wrought through policy or technology. Dealing with the extraordinary environmental losses we are experiencing but have not yet come to terms with, and facing the possibility that our species may be as mortal as we are as individuals, is also emotional, cultural, and spiritual work. The purpose of this blog is to explore the larger questions about our relationship to our environment, ourselves, and the society we wish to create.

Michael Johnson-Chase was a theatre professor, a movement teacher to actors and stage director for many years. Over many years he was an instructor at the National Theatre Conservatory at the Denver Center Theatre in Denver, Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and adjunct faculty at SUNY Purchase in Purchase, New York. In 2007, a watershed year for climate change awareness, Michael left teaching and enrolled in a vocational class in solar panel installation at Bronx Community College. He subsequently decided to go to work as a solar installer in Long Island at Quad State Solar. A year later, Michael went to work for Solar One, where he built out and directed the Green Workforce Training Program. After that, Michael worked as the Director of Green City Academy at Green City Force, followed by a short stint doing educational outreach and delivery for the Urban Green Council. Working at all these organizations were life altering experiences and influenced how Michael thinks about social and environmental justice, climate change, and dramatic narrative. In 2015, Michael devoted himself to cycling throughout the United States and beyond, and began this blog to tell the story of his adventures and observations.

Jennifer Hershey was Vice President of Building Operations at Jujamcyn Theatres for over 30 years. She was responsible for the care and upkeep of five landmark Broadway theaters housing numerous Tony-winning productions, among them The Producers, Jersey Boys, Angels in America, The Book of Mormon and Moulin Rouge. Passionate about helping the Broadway community leverage the value of their buildings in an environmentally sustainable way, Jenny prides herself on her ability to inform and inspire people to make sensible, efficient and cost-saving changes to their operations. Jennifer managed hundreds of employees and oversaw multiple capital projects (including the historic renovation of all five Jujamcyn theaters). Along the way, Jenny developed a thorough understanding of building systems including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, structural and fire safety as well as the various systems and requirements specific to live theater. Jennifer was a founding member of the Broadway Green Alliance, whose mission is to use the Broadway platform to inspire, educate and motivate others to adapt better practices to lower their carbon footprint. For over ten years Jenny chaired the Venues Committee, working with all Broadway theater chains to develop best practices in sustainability. She led Jujamcyn to become the first Broadway chain to be involved in a carbon offset program, and led the campaign to convert all 40 Broadway theaters to energy efficient signage, making the Great White Way the Great Green Way. Jennifer completed Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership Corps training program in 2018. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Jennifer’s revealing drawings can be seen on her Instagram account at deeofo. 

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Unless otherwise noted, all material on this site has been created by either Michael Johnson Chase and/or Jennifer Hershey, and is copyright protected.

Thanks for visiting.

The fastest way of traveling to the human heart is through stories.