Yesterday at the People's Climate March in New York City, there was a great turnout (310,000, we were told) and great energy. My group came from Oneonta, NY, getting on the bus (organized by Dr. Katherine O'Donnell of Hartwick College) at 6 a.m. I've been an armchair environmentalist for a long time (signing petitions and donating to causes), but this is the first time I've taken to the streets. However, a lot of the people I marched with are part of New York's anti-fracking movement, so we marched at the end of the fourth section (We Know Who Is Responsible), just ahead of the The Debate Is Over section.
Bus captain Kate: My seatmate on the bus, Carol Ohmart-Behan, has been an activist since the antiwar marches of the 1960s and is very active in the anti-fracking movement (sorry for the blur; I think my hands shook): The crowd was claustrophobia-inducing as we waited two hours for our turn to march; being that we were near the end of the march and turnout was so huge, it was a long time before we saw any movement where we were. Some people took advantage of the downtime to take a rest: I saw some good signs: Captain Ray Lewis of the Philadelphia Police Department (sorry for cutting off the edge of the sign): Some people dressed up for the occasion: Here's me with my sign (full disclosure: I didn't make it all the way to the end of the march due to blisters on my feet): So, what's next? We have to keep the momentum and keep up the pressure on our elected officials to act--before it's too late!↧