MN to D.C. Carbon-free: Father-daughter road trip tackles climate change

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Two girls from the Twin Cities are on a mission to tackle the issue of climate change.

They're heading to Washington, D.C. this week for an international conference, and even their means of travel is mindful of the environment.

For many people, climate change is a serious issue. So, a pair of 5th graders and their dads will take a road trip in an electric car for a good cause.

Aryanna Rossi and Elena Rapallini have teamed up for plenty projects before, but their latest collaboration will take them to the nation's capitol to take lawmakers’ temperature on climate change. 

"I feel excited because I get to talk to people who can actually make a big difference in helping it," Elena said.

Aryanna became concerned about global warming last year when her relatives in California had to leave their house for a few days because of wildfires.

She and her dad even traveled to Washington, D.C. to talk to their representatives in Congress about the subject as part of an international conference for Citizens’ Climate Lobby.

"We asked them to take action against climate change, and we reasoned why they should," Aryanna said.

This year, Aryanna convinced Elena and her dad to come to the conference as well. 

But, instead of flying like last year, all four will pile into Elena's dad's electric car and drive more than 1,100 miles each way to reduce their carbon footprint to zero.

"I'm sure the girls will be worried about 20 hours of dad's jokes, but we'll make it fun. That's the idea, to spend time with the girls, make it an adventure and inspire someone else," Leonardo Rapallini said.

The four have already started a blog about their road trip and they hope it will be an adventure to remember.

"I think climate change is a huge problem that we need to solve, and if we start taking action as kids, others will try to follow," Elena said.

The group will take off on Friday and hopes to make it to D.C. on Saturday night. If you'd like to follow their adventures, click here.