People’s Climate March: Leaving NYC
Today was awesome. More than 300,000 people marched in the People’s Climate March in New York City. I met folks from around the country who are committed to finding commonsense, pragmatic solutions to climate change, and building a movement that can create the political space for those solutions. Showing political support for acting on climate by marching is important, but it’s not enough. Changing political outcomes by voting is essential.
We’re heading back to Charlotte now, and I am more energized than ever to contribute to solutions that work for South Carolina. I have a long afternoon of meetings in Columbia tomorrow to focus on how to bring clean energy jobs to our state, and today’s march underscored for me the political will for these sorts of actions across the country. A single silver bullet will not fix the climate crisis. One treaty or technology alone will not solve the problem. Addressing climate change will require actions from individuals, cities, states, and countries around the world. Many of these actions will open up new markets for new businesses and new jobs. In South Carolina, seemingly small things like improving energy efficiency in our colleges and university buildings, are one of the many steps we need to take. Office buildings are a major user of energy, and thus a contributor to carbon pollution. Steps we can take to improve energy efficiency of course also save money, in addition to being one of the steps we need to take to act on climate.
But first, we have dinner planned at a diner off the NJ Turnpike.
-Alan
