People’s Climate March: Leaving Charlotte
The three buses bound for the People’s Climate March from Charlotte are heading out. All three are packed with folks from throughout North and South Carolina, including students from Clemson, retirees from Columbia, and activists from Greensboro. We’ll stop for breakfast in New Jersey in the morning, and the buses will drop us off on the Upper West Side around 9:00 in the morning. The march will start at 11:30, and I’ll be in the section of the lineup that highlights that “we have solutions” to act on climate.
Before we left, a local television station asked me a few questions about why I’m going to New York. I said I wanted to be a part of an effort to show that acting on climate is imperative. The People’s Climate March will take place two days before the start of the United Nations Climate Summit, and this show of grassroots interest in climate change will focus attention on international climate discussions. Success in international processes is important, but much of the success in acting on climate will also happen at the local levels. The President’s Climate Plan, particularly the recently proposed Clean Power Plan from EPA, empowers states to decide what actions work best for their particular energy mix.
CVSC has been a part of planning for that effort, and that work is important in informing South Carolina’s Clean Power Plan. We also recognize that this is a national, and international issue. I am proud to be part of tomorrow’s People’s Climate March, and I look forward to sharing some of the sights with you in this space, and on CVSC’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
-Alan