Taking It to the Streets: Why I Am Marching for the Climate on September 21

For me, however, and I suspect for many others, marching shoulder to shoulder with kindred spirits goes beyond the need to make a point. It is an expression of shared hope, reflecting deeply held convictions about the need to protect our children, our grandchildren and the generations to come.
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On September 21, people from all over the world will take to the streets to demand action from their leaders to address the looming climate crisis. I will be one of them.

Heads of State -- along with business and civil society leaders -- will gather in New York on September 23 at a summit hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. What better time to demonstrate our support, no, our demand for effective and immediate action?

After all, the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that we are risking abrupt and irreversible changes to our climate if we continue to spew out CO2 emissions at anywhere near the current rate.

In fact, if we want to stand a good chance of keeping climate change below a catastrophic threshold, we need to reach carbon neutrality during the second half of this century -- a goal that is technically and economically feasible (PDF).

For me, however, and I suspect for many others, marching shoulder to shoulder with kindred spirits goes beyond the need to make a point. It is an expression of shared hope, reflecting deeply held convictions about the need to protect our children, our grandchildren and the generations to come. And it is an expression of personal power; a means of facing head-on the fear of what climate change ultimately may have in store for us, and knowing we are not alone.

I came of age at a time when the terrifying prospect of an all-out nuclear war brought people to the streets. I marched in New York on June 12, 1982, with an estimated million people calling for an end to the nuclear arms race. Here is what the New York Times had to say on the following day:

It was a kaleidoscope of humanity -- young people and old, rich and poor, the famous, the forgotten and countless thousands in between. They spoke in Western twangs and Southern drawls, in the accents of Appalachia, New England, New York and the Middle West, as well as in the tongues of Asia, Europe and Latin America.

They represented a rainbow spectrum of religions, ethnic groups, trades, professions, unions, cultural and educational institutions, political organizations and other interests. And there were many who turned out to express just their own deeply held feelings.

The seas of people who poured through the canyons of Manhattan and rallied on the greenswards of Central Park to protest the nuclear arms race yesterday may have been the largest, most diverse gathering for a single cause ever to assemble in the city.

There were poets, actors, corporate executives, transit workers, teachers, students, housewives, doctors, store clerks, sanitation workers, civil servants, cooks, lawyers, ministers, rabbis, engineers, musicians, nurses, politicians and legions of people from other walks of life.

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Substitute climate change for the nuclear arms race, and let this be the description of the People's Climate March to be printed on the pages of the New York Times on September 22.

Runaway climate change is no less a threat than a full-scale nuclear war -- the only difference is the timescale in which human civilization as we know it would cease to exist. Taking to the streets will send a clear message that we demand a future for our children -- a future powered by safe, clean renewable energy.

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