Washington, DC is expected to become a river of people next Sunday who are concerned enough about climate change to march from Washington Monument to the White House. In an unprecedented convergence of individuals and groups, tens of thousands plan to represent what humanity has at risk if we don't #MoveForwardonClimate.
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune anticipates, "It will be the largest rally for climate change in our country's history." Reverend Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus compares this to a pivotal time in the civil rights movement. Both Yearwood and Brune have spoken out plainly against the proposed pipeline that would bring enough oil from the Canadian tar sands, through the United States, to put the ecosystem and its people at risk like we've never seen. "The Keystone XL pipeline project, for our movement," says Rev. Yearwood, "is our lunch counter moment for the 21st century.”
Rev. Yearwood will be among nationally known speakers and musicians to gather on the National Mall on Sunday. Others include civil rights activist Van Jones, Chief Jackie Thomas of the Saik'uz First Nation, and award-winning journalist Bill McKibben. Organizers sound particularly hopeful that at this critical time in history, President Obama might listen to the science, the reason and the faith-based calls of moral urgency to protect people by moving toward cleaner energy.
Brune says, “We need to reject the Keystone xl pipeline and transition to clean energy instead. There’s no reason we should be drilling in the arctic for dirty oil when that has not happened under previous administrations and we have clean energy that would do a better job.”
You can join or learn more about the Forward On Climate movement at this link.
What are other moms and dads saying about this urgency to act on climate change? See my conversation about this with Climate Mama's Harriet Shugarman.