About Sam Salwei

This is how Sam is a Changemaker:
In a word--non traditional. My inspired value system is expressed through my way of life. I believe in the potential of committed individuals and spend much of my time exploring human capabilities. I attach meaning not to material possessions and financial success, but to intention of action, creativity, and well-defined purpose. I live simply, but am extremely active. Three months after I discovered climbing I stopped paying rent and moved literally onto the floor at the local climbing gym. I continued to be enrolled at the University of North Dakota but spent little time there. Despite my lack of attendance I convinced a select few instructors to help me utilize my life experiences to achieve a major of my own design: Social Entrepreneurship, which I recently achieved. I accomplished this not despite my 100,000+ miles of car travel per year, but because of it. The experiences I gained while traveling allowed my to apply the theory I was exposed to in school, making my education highly practical. These experiences also helped in the development of an extensive social network that has allowed me to exist, trading tales of adventure and exploration for food and lodging. In essence I feel just as at home in New York as I do in California. This lifestyle has helped me to develop a unique view of the vast amount of social problems as well as providing me with the passion and motivation to apply my knowledge and skills to positively affect these problems. These underlying values have led to the development of tangible forms expression. Such as, the creation of slackline yoga which expedites mindfulness and focus, leading to a greater understanding of living with intention. This intention leads to environmental awareness; without the environment my lifestyle would cease to exist along with everything else. I enjoy exploring human potential through rock climbing, eco-expeditions, adventure racing, etc. connecting the physical/mental discipline of endurance activities to sustainable messages. All of this has culminated in the development of the mantra extreme living with awareness.

The place for which Sam feels a fondness or connection:
Snowkiting, Rock Climbing, Pack Rafting any location in which I can enjoy the diverse outdoor playground.

The change Sam passionately wants to happen:
One of the primary goals of this expedition is to educate people about wind energy, more specifically tell the story about the enormous untapped wind energy resource in North Dakota. North Dakota is the number one state for wind energy potential, in fact, North Dakota has enough wind to light up 32% of the United States. Yet, North Dakota consistently ranks far behind other states with less wind. In 2004, North Dakota ranked 13th in amount of wind energy developed. By 2005, the state had fallen to 16th and in 2006 North Dakota was ranked 15th in wind development. Texas, on the other hand, is second to North Dakota in wind potential, but recently passed California (17th in potential) to become the leader in wind energy development. So, North Dakota has a great deal of wind energy potential and residents of the state want to see more wind energy development. Unfortunately, the political will doesn’t exist. There are a lot of excuses, but ultimately it’s hard not to conclude that the powerful coal and oil lobby that exists in North Dakota has created a hostile environment for wind and renewables. Considering our country’s growing energy needs, we believe there is room for all forms of energy. North Dakota needs to diversify its energy portfolio. We wouldn’t, for example, tell all of our farmers to only grow wheat. No, we want to grow a diversity of crops. Same with energy, we want to utilize a variety of sources, not just one. Right now, North Dakota relies on coal for over 93% of its electricity. Most of that is lignite coal, one of the dirtiest varieties of coal, containing more mercury, sulpher and carbon dioxide than other types of coal.