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Team Micronesia' to raise awareness of Global Warming in Tour de Sol

NEW YORK (FSM Information Service): May 15, 2001 - On May 15, 2001, the Federated States of Micronesia announced plans to field 'Team Micronesia' for competition in the annual Tour de Sol race in the U.S. Northeast from May 19 - 26, 2001.

The FSM hopes to raise awareness of the potential impacts of global warming on pacific island nations and plans to utilize their participation in the Race as an educational opportunity across the U.S. Northeast.

The alternative energy vehicle race starts in Waterbury, CT on May 19 and ends in Boston, MA on May 26, 2001.

The Race will have six festivals along the way to showcase the threat of global warming and environmentally clean transportation technologies that can contribute to overcoming this threat.

The Race will demonstrate the viability of alternative energy vehicles in an effort to mitigate the catastrophic effects of global warming induced by increased greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.

Without immediate action by industrialized nations to reduce CO₂ emissions, the FSM and its other allies in the Alliance of Small Island States will suffer consequences of sea level rise including disappearance of atolls; loss of critical habitat on which the nation depends for food and tourism; rise in infectious diseases; and, great strains on infrastructure.

During his recent address to the Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders (PICL), 31 Jan 2001, President Leo Falcam stated "unless something effective is done about [human-induced climate change], and now, our concerns about global issues will disappear within as little as fifty years, along with our islands."

Recent findings by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) support this statement. Hence, the FSM hopes to add its voice to the collective concerns raised about the need to support the Kyoto Protocol process which calls on industrialized nations to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 2012.

'Team Micronesia' participants are: Tanya Harris, Wade Lawrence, Maraea Harris, Rocketson Holden, Vanessa Konno, Mary Ann Latorres, Brad Mori, and Simpson Abraham.

'Team Micronesia' is jointly sponsored in this event by the Coolfont Foundation of Berkeley Springs, WVA, and Personal Electric Transport (PET) of Honolulu, HI.

The 'Team' will be riding a PET vehicle, an electric powered scooter with a novel quick-change battery designed for simplicity, dependability, affordability, and standardization - meaning these scooters may be an appropriate "green transportation" technology for the developing world.

This is the 13^th year the race is sponsored by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) - the leading U.S. association involved in promoting awareness, understanding and development of non-polluting, renewable energy technologies.