Climate activist and storyteller Brooke Larsen has transformed her 3-day bike tour across the Colarado Plateau into a biographical story that educates on the multifaceted socio-political layers of environmental destruction. By juxtaposing the scenic terrain and the scent of wild sage wafting pass her as she pedals, to that of a landscape speckled with oil rigs, Larsen unveils the ecological impact of “progress” through her writing. Oil and gas corporations, the endangered prairie dog, and the history of the displacement of Indigenous peoples all come together in Larsen’s account of her bike trip. Personal reflections of individual contradictions, and challenging questions of how climate activists can form alliances with coal miners and unions are at the center of Larsen’s reflections on how to change the system and not the climate. Photo credit: Brooke Larsen