311,000 climate protesters marched in New York. What’s next? Last month’s big People’s Climate March could have shut down New York if it wanted to — or so I heard the next day from a New York police officer, regaling a group of tourists with the story.
But then, the march wasn’t about shutting down New York. It was about making the number of people concerned about climate change into a visible thing — even if some of those people, like the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, were also lobbying against the regulation of power plant emissions and otherwise doing things that would actually make climate change worse, not better. Unfortunately, a lot of us are also at a similar spot on that spectrum of making climate change worse, not better. Oil-Rich Rockefellers Are Dumping Fossil-Fuel Stocks. Mobilisation Populaire Pour le Climat. Réchauffement climatique: les balbutiements d'une mobilisation mondiale.
Climat : « Il faut que les Etats aient peur de revenir chez eux les mains vides » Face au changement climatique, une nécessaire clarification stratégique. Nicolas Hulot : «La crise écologique nourrit la crise économique» One big march, lots of little messages. A subway advertisement from the New York City Office of Emergency Management asks, “Do you live in one of NYC’s six hurricane evacuation zones?
Know your zone.” As activists piled into the train on their way to the People’s Climate March on Sunday morning, it seemed an appropriate omen. The march’s central aim was to bring the people on the frontlines of the climate crisis to the center of global capitalism, to force the media and the world leaders assembled for the United Nations General Assembly this week to look. Meet a climate marcher. This weekend, the People’s Climate March made history as one of the largest demonstrations of its kind.
Organizers estimate that more than 311,000 individuals showed up from all corners of the world to take to the streets of New York City. Their demands ranged from stopping fracking to divesting from fossil fuels to seeking environmental justice to enabling disaster preparedness. But they all agreed on one thing: We’ve got big climate problems, yo — and they need solving.
Together, their perspectives converged into one very, very loud voice. Check out these great photos of the NYC climate march. Peoplesclimate's albums on Flickr. La plus grande mobilisation pour le climat de l'histoire. This video shows just how awesomely huge the People’s Climate March was. Peacekeepers and direct-action proponents prepare for climate protest, in very different ways. On the Saturday morning before what was going to be, everyone hoped, the largest climate protest in history, two very different groups gathered in Manhattan to discuss the finer points of making that protest happen without bringing disaster down on anyone.
At the Service Employees International Union headquarters near Times Square, mosaics of noble service workers decorate the façade. Inside, in an auditorium on the second floor, Steve Sherman, coordinator of security for the People’s Climate March, speaks to a group of several hundred volunteers who have signed on to work as “peacekeepers” along the route. Much has been said about the diversity of the participants of the People’s Climate March, but I haven’t seen great evidence of it until now. Wall Street protest arrests nab 2 Captain Planets, 1 polar bear. It is a beautiful day to get arrested: not too hot, not too cold, and a crisp breeze coming off of the waterfront.
I am hanging out in Battery Park at the southernmost end of Manhattan Monday morning with several thousand protesters dressed all in blue, several hundred policemen, a few confused tourists, and Captain Planet. “Are you the same Captain Planet that protested Keystone in D.C.?” I ask. “I am,” she says. “There is another Captain Planet, but that one went to get breakfast.”
A New York, la marche pour le climat crée la surprise. Hundreds of Thousands Converge on New York to Demand Climate-Change Action. Réchauffement climatique: les balbutiements d'une mobilisation mondiale. Why the (awesome) climate march won’t change American politics. The climate march that took place in NYC (and elsewhere) on Sunday was fantastic.
It was thrilling to see so many people gathered together for a cause. In the process of organizing and marching, tons of social capital was created — connections made, bonds strengthened, seeds planted.