As part of Professor Chuck Greene's personal mission to advocate for developing clean-energy solutions, he is organizing a local cycling event, the "Tour de Frac," Saturday, Sept. 24, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., as part of the worldwide Moving Planet Day events sponsored by 350.org.

The Tour de Frac will offer two routes, a 22-mile option and a longer 35-mile option through the countryside surrounding Ithaca, to visit areas where land has already been leased for hydrofracking. The event is intended to help increase awareness about the local issues surrounding hydrofracking.

"We want participants to ride through beautiful environments where the land is already leased to drilling companies so that they can see what might be impacted," Greene said. "However, we also want participants to think about the financial hardships faced by people not very far outside Ithaca and realize that some of the people living there see gas drilling as an opportunity to rise above their current economic hardships.

"In addition, we all need to come to grips with the reality that the coal Ithaca currently relies on to provide much of its electricity is mined, often by mountaintop removal, in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. These practices are much more environmentally destructive than the gas drilling with hydrofracking already going on in Pennsylvania and proposed for New York," explained Greene. "We need to meet our local energy needs, but we also need to maintain a sustainable environment."

Riders will depart from the Cornell Business and Technology Park on Thornwood Drive, near the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport. The longer ride will follow a route to Genoa and back, and the shorter ride will remain within a 10-mile radius of the airport.

For insurance purposes, all registered riders in the Tour de Frac must be members of the Fingers Lakes Cycling Club (FLCC). To become a member visit http://flcycling.org/?page_id=51. Individual membership is $10, and family membership is $12.

Community members who donate more than $100 to the Tour de Frac will receive FLCC/Tour de Frac jerseys based on the Earth graphics of local artist Jay Hart. To order a shirt, contact Greene at chg2@cornell.edu.

Local representatives of 350.org also will host a rally on campus (time and location to be determined) Sept. 23-24. Community members will have the opportunity to learn more about 350.org and to sign a petition urging New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to develop clean energy sources now.