BILLINGS— Billings high school students and others from local organizations biked 20 miles Sunday morning to advocate for a cleaner environment, participating in the city’s fourth annual “Ride for Their Lives”.
A group of more than 60 bikers pedaled from Meadowlark Brewing on Billings’ west end to the Montana State University Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing in downtown Billings, then pedaled back.
Watch the report:
Bikers stopped for a break at the ride’s midpoint at the college, where three Billings high school students spoke to the crowd.
“Advocating for the environment is really special for us as a club,” said Josh Strydom, a Billings Central Catholic High School senior and member of his school’s future healthcare professionals club.
MTN asked Strydom about why he is concerned about climate change.
“Just what the future will look like for my own children one day— the world might look a lot different, and I think protecting what we have and the resources that we have and the animals that we have is really important,” said Strydom in an interview with MTN.
Other students from Billings West High School represented their school’s environmental club.
“I think we owe it to our planet to start giving back,” said Candy Li, a Billings West High School student.
“I just think that's so great to see so many people who care so much about something that we care about,” said high school student Reegen Snell.
“They're kind of anxious about... trajectories in the climate,” said Erin Hall, a Billings West High environmental science teacher. “And they're concerned about biodiversity. They are concerned about health and pollution issues.”
Many of these concerns have arisen from environmental reports over the years. One of the most recent reports from the United Nations says the global temperature is on track to rise about 3 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the pre-industrial average.
“Climate is the world's group project,” said Lori Byron, the executive director of Montana Health and Climate. “A lot of people are concerned about climate change... but certainly the kids. Research has shown 70 or 80% of them are very worried about climate change and over half of them are thinking about not even having kids.”
Many advocates are seeking a way to help remedy the effects of climate change through releasing less car emissions. For this group, that means building more biking and walking trails in Billings.
Groups such as Billings TrailNet are seeing progress. The city agreed last year to build the $5.5 million Stagecoach Trail, which will allow people to walk and bike from Rimrock Road to the top of the rims.
“It's supposed to be done by hopefully 2028, I want to say,” said Kristy Halderman, executive director of Billings TrailNet.
Halderman says there is still work to be done.
“I was driving down Grand (Ave.) and I saw three or four cyclists maybe in the matter of five minutes just riding on the sidewalk because they don't feel safe riding in the street and there's no trail along there,” said Halderman.
Billings high school students also would like to see more bike lanes.
“If there's no bike lanes, it's really dangerous to be biking out on the street,” said Strydom.
