Clean Air in the News

The relay traverses 100 miles — from the state line in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to downtown Asheville where the relay culminates in a Clean Air Rally. The course follows the Blue Ridge along the Haywood/Jackson county lines before descending into Asheville.

Bike riders, runners and walkers will take different legs of the relay — from short stretches for walker and runners to longer bike sections. A pennant-sized “Clean Air” banner will be handed off from one participant to the next as each completes one of the 37 segments along the route.

The first leg of the relay will start at 6:15 a.m. and the final leg will arrive at 8:30 p.m.

Avram Friedman, director of the Canary Coalition, calls the event a “civil rights march” for clean air. This year’s relay takes on new urgency in the face of a renewed round of power plant building being proposed by utilities.

“The Relay for Clean Air takes on new significance this year as communities throughout the Southeast are faced with an energy crossroads,” said Friedman. “On one hand dramatic technological and economic strides are being realized in energy efficiency and renewable energy resources holding great promise to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. But, on the other hand, plans are being developed to build a new generation of polluting power plants, threatening to reverse all the progress achieved in recent years. We can’t and won’t let that happen.”

Friedman said the critical mass to stop global warming and reduce energy consumption is finally building, but needs everyone’s support.

“We’re expecting the largest turnout ever this year for the Relay for Clean Air. This movement is growing,” said Friedman.

The Relay for Clean Air has impact nationally and each year attracts media attention throughout the country because it takes place on the grounds of the two most visited — and most polluted — national parks in America: the Great Smoky Mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The relay concludes at French Broad Food Co-op at 8:30 p.m. Saturday night with guest speakers, entertainment and refreshments.

For more information or to volunteer for a leg of the relay, contact 828.631.3447, email info@canarycoalition.org or go to www.canarycoalition.org.