This past Sunday about 400,000 people walked in the People’s Climate March. Some odd hundred of those thousands were Wes students (and my housemate estimates that if you include Wes Grads there were about one gazillion of us, but that’s a rough number).
The People’s March was in anticipation of the UN Climate Summit that happened this past weekend (Sorry! I’ve been busy). There were no demands and no target for the march, but it still billed itself as the “biggest climate change demonstration ever.” Personally, I think it was pretty invigorating to see so many disparate affinity groups unite under the umbrella cause of taking action on climate change.
Wesleyan students traveled to the march in a variety of ways. There were buses, carpools, carpools to New Haven, and one Wesleying staffer bubblewater even tried to get their tinder matches to give them a ride to New York.
Needless to say, bubblewater took the bus. As for this Wesleying staffer, I did witness some hilarious/tragic Laurel and Hardy-esque escapade when one group of Wesleyan seniors were separated as two of the four ran onto the train and the other two were left in the station as the MetroNorth departed in a huff of nonchalance and mass-transit-somewhat-carbon-efficient steam. I did see the two stranded seniors the next morning parading down Central Park West, so not all was lost.
In terms of the aftermath, there was a lot of physical garbage and perhaps some new hope surrounding the issue. (And, my dad increased the number of people he follows on Instagram by 100% after meeting two of my housemates.) I certainly hope that this amount of mobilization leads to actual action on climate change, but I also worry that many will stop taking action after the fact… Remember to close your windows now that the heat is coming on in residential buildings and get involved with sustainability here on campus. If you want to see more photos of the event itself, check out the photos below, taken primarily from the collections of bubblewater and sheninagans.
To all Members of the Commonwealth of Wesleyan,
These are the pictures of the heroes of our times. These students, along with the thousands of people who attended this march, put time aside to rally for a cause that is great consequence to all of us. As founder of Delta Mu Tau, I would like to congratulate, and thank, all those members of the Commonwealth who went to New York to protest the climate crisis we face. A crisis that has been caused by the destructive capitalist establishment that focuses on infinite growth on a finite planet. To all those members of the Commonwealth, I hereby give you the title of Knights of the Commonwealth. Thank you so much for your hard work and for speaking out and continue to fight for justice everyone.
Sincerely,
The Lord Protector
Founder of Delta Mu Tau and Sponsor of the Wesleyan Parliament
With 60 BILLION food animals on the planet, this should be our first step in the Climate March!
http://meatonomics.com/
“As environmental science has advanced, it has become apparent that the human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future: deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease.” Worldwatch Institute, “Is Meat Sustainable?”
“If every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetables and grains… the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads.” Environmental Defense Fund
“A 1% reduction in world-wide meat intake has the same benefit as a three trillion-dollar investment in solar energy.” ~ Chris Mentzel, CEO of Clean Energy
There is one single industry destroying the planet more than any other. But no one wants to talk about it… http://cowspiracy.com
Step by Step Guide: How to Transition to a Vegan Diet http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/step-by-step-guide-how-to-transition-to-vegan-diet/