What an incredible time we had at the Howard Theater last night! So many cool things in one place – Ben and Jerry’s launched their new ice cream flavor, Salted Carmel Brown-ie Ale, with all proceeds going to Protect Our Winters, New Belgium was serving their limited run POW-branded Salted Carmel Brownie Brown Ale, Dr. Dog and Galactic played, and we heard from some of the most respected voices in the climate movement. (And, on a personal note, I had my first ever beer float, which I’ve seriously been dreaming of for years – delish!)
It was a joint benefit concert at the historic Howard Theater in Washington DC, sponsored by New Belgium Brewing and Ben and Jerry’s, to benefit Protect Our Winters and to launch their new collaborative campaign supporting the Clean Power Plan that President Obama signed in late September. The POW Riders Alliance was out in force, and there were keynote remarks given by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, 350.org’s Jason Kowalski, Greenpeace’s Leila Dean, and POW Riders Alliance member Gretchen Bleiler.
L to R: Christopher Miller, Ben and Jerry’s Social Mission Activism Manager, Auden Schendler, POW Board Member, and Chris Steinkamp, POW Executive Director
“The whole idea is that ice cream, beer, music and the love of winter are coming together tonight and creating citizenship,” said Auden Schendler, VP of Sustainability at Aspen Skiing Company and POW Board Member.
On the dance floor, the comments reflected that feeling of citizenship. Concert goers Alison and Kerry agreed, “I’m here because I like snowboarding and I’m worried about climate change, and she’s here because she likes Dr. Dog. And we both like beer and ice cream, so we’re the perfect example of the purpose of this event!”
New Belgium Beer Rangers Taylor Hughes and Carlee Delp (also known as the Northern VA sales reps for New Belgium) said, “We came up with an awesome beer and they came up with an awesome ice cream, and nothing pairs better together than climate change activism, beer and ice cream, right?” And a hill staffer (who couldn’t give his name) added, “When my friends invited me to come to this, I thought, Dr. Dog, beer and ice cream? I’m in!”
Writing to his governor in support of the Clean Power Plan, Serving up Salted Caramel Brownie Beer Floats, Caroline Gleich and Brody Leven
The collaboration between POW, New Belgium and Ben and Jerry’s is in support of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which is under attack as he prepares for the COP 21 meeting of world leaders in Paris in December. Christopher Miller, Ben and Jerry’s Social Mission Activism Manager, said, “This collaboration came together because Ben and Jerry’s and New Belgium are both B Corps, so we wanted to partner on something that would raise awareness about climate change. Of course it made sense to work with POW because both of our companies have a strong culture around winter sports.”
“2015 is such an important year for climate change, because the COP 21 meeting will hopefully forge an agreement to curb global emissions,” Miller added. “The connection between the Clean Power Plan and the Paris meeting is important, because the plan is our country’s commitment to reduce our emissions. We have to defend the Clean Power Plan, because without a US commitment like that, it’ll make a global deal in Paris very difficult.”
POW Riders Alliance member Gretchen Bleiler
At the event last night, attendees were signing letters to their governors in support of the plan, and were urged to use social media and every other communication type to make sure their elected officials support the plan. “We’ve come together tonight as a community, and we all care about the same things, like music, ice cream, beer and winter,” POW Riders Alliance Member Gretchen Bleiler told the crowd. “I hope you guys all will let your governors know that you want them to support the Clean Power Plan, because they need our support if they already back the plan, and if they don’t, they need to know that we think they should, and that we care about protecting our winters!”
Today, the POW Crew is on Capitol Hill along with SIA President David Ingemie and Incoming President Nick Sargent, and will deliver a letter to the White House, signed by over 200 snow sports companies, organizations and athletes, in support of President Obama as he heads to Paris in December. In addition, the group will be visiting congress people, urging them to support the Clean Power Plan. Read the letter here.
Stay tuned to Snow Source for an update on today’s activities on Capitol Hill. We’ll have photos and quotes from the day and will let you know how the letter delivery went down. In the meantime, if you haven’t written to your congress people to tell them to support the clean power plan, you can now do that at POW’s website, Ben and Jerry’s website OR New Belgium’s website. So get writing, and we’ll let you know how POW’s day on the hill goes!