Rochester Rallies for Climate Justice

Over 400 people attended the Rochester March for Global Climate Action on Sunday November 29 2015. The event coincided with  United Nations Climate Summit beginning that day in Paris, France.  President Obama and 140 other world leaders are attending the summit.  A large march in Paris had to be cancelled due to the recent armed terror attacks on November 13. But people turned out in solidarity in over 2200 cities around the world including Rochester. The event was organized by the Rochester People's Climate Coalition, formed in 2014.

We Are Marching for our Mother Earth

It began with a rally which packed the church of Saint Luke and Saint Simon Cyrene.  It then followed a route around downtown Rochester with stops at City Hall, the Liberty Pole, Rochester Gas & Electric headquarters and the offices of the Democrat & Chronicle.  To their credit, the newspaper ran a story on the march, as did the New York Times.  Local TV stations had camera crews on the scene but scant footage was actually aired.

Climate change has been named the biggest threat to our world by scientists, heads of state including Pope Francis, and enviornmentalits.  Even the US Department of Defense calls it the biggest threat to national security. It is a major factor in the crisis in the Mideast.  Over 60 percent of Syria is experiencing severe drought, causing mass migration to overcrowded cities and refugee camps.  Rochester is feeling the effects itself, as explained by city Environmental Services director Norman Jones.  Rochester just experienced two of its severest winters in history, in a row. Climate change was a contributing factor.  This is affecting our local food supply as well.  New York just had one of its poorest ever apple harvests, as anyone who has purchased apple cider recently knows all too well.

And what would a rally be without Rochester's Raging Grannies

There are solutions out there to this problem.  The UN Summit is scheduled to last 12 days. So here's a song with 12 suggest solutions.  (there are a whole lot more too)  With the Dady Brothers on guitar and fiddle.

On the 1st day of Climate my conscience said to me, “This news needs to be on TV.”
On the 2nd day of Climate…, “Call Congressmen.”
On the 3rd day…, “Divest now.”
On the 4th day…, “NY State should lead.”
On the 5th day…, “Learning is key!”
On the 6th day…, “Kids are our future.”
On the 7th day…, “It’s a moral issue.”
On the 8th day…, “Eat more plant-based foods.”
On the 9th day…, “Stop trains exploding.”
On the 10th day…, “How’s Paris going?”
On the 11th day…, “Renewables are better.”
On the 12th day…, “Gifts can be greener.”