Author pedals to bring message

CANTON — Environmental author James S. Merkel and a small band of dedicated bicyclists will pedal 350 miles to make a point.

The group will be wending its way from Norwich, Vt., to Canton for the 14th annual North Country Sustainable Energy Fair April 25 and 26 at SUNY Canton.

"We're cycling 350 miles to bring the message that 350 parts per million is the safe level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," Mr. Merkel said. "We're at 387 parts per million now. One hundred years ago, we were at 280. That's pretty rapid escalation."

Mr. Merkel, author of "Radical Simplicity: Small Footprints on a Finite Earth," and Dartmouth College's first sustainability director, helped found a cycling speaking tour that has logged 17,000 miles since 1996.

"There are four of us on this tour and people are invited to join us," Mr. Merkel said. "There's a group of people at Paul Smith's College who are actually going to join us all the way to Canton."

An engineer by training, Mr. Merkel said he was designing and selling top-secret electronic equipment to the military when he had a crisis of conscience, and started a career as an environmental activist.

"I have to pay penance," he said. "I'm trying to get my karma back."

On his swing to the energy fair, Mr. Merkel has 22 speaking events. At the Canton fair, one of his three-hour workshops will show participants how to tally up their lifestyle so they know how large an ecological footprint they leave.

The workshop is among eight hands-on offerings at the fair available by preregistration by e-mailing fair@ncenergy.org or by calling 379-9466. The cost for each of the longer workshops averages $30. For a complete schedule of the fair, visit www.ncenergy.org.

The fair, organized by Community Energy Services in partnership with SUNY Canton, features about 70 workshops and 60 exhibitors. Organizers ask for a donation of $5 a day, or $8 for the weekend.

"We will have a whole slew of workshops on green jobs. We're going to have a series of professional development workshops," said Patricia M. Greene, coordinator. "It's always just a great place to network. It's great for beginners and for those who are more experienced."

Rather than a keynote speaker, the fair will kick off at 10 a.m. April 25 at Miller Campus Center with a performance by Quiet Riot, an environmental theater group. Several environmental writers, including Sharon Astyk and Jerry Jenkins, will speak.

There will be visits to 17 green homes divided into four guided tours that will leave from the fair at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Visitors can learn first-hand about straw bale construction, off-grid solar electricity, biodiesel generators, masonry stoves and other innovative building ideas.

Mr. Merkel said he plans to spend a month volunteering in the north country before he bikes through southern New York and Massachusetts for more speaking engagements on his way home.