Time to March Again - Washington DC, 2017

Climate Change is not the 800-pound gorilla in the room. It’s the 7 billion pound Godzilla that is threatening to wreak havoc on our fragile and beautiful world. But the full force of the problem is not yet here. It is a looming danger that is approaching with increasing speed, but because its full effects have not yet arrived it is too easy to feel that we can get away with ignoring it. Yet this is denial of a most dangerous kind. Leading scientists are clear: we must act boldly and we do not have much time.

Here’s the good news: Polls show that more Americans are coming to realize the severity of this crisis, sensing that we are facing a challenge that is more pervasive and perilous than anything we have ever encountered. Understandably, though, most of us don’t quite know what to do about it. We don’t talk about it much, we don’t think about it much. There are so many other things to deal with. None of them, however, is ultimately as consequential as Climate Change.

What needs to happen is rather simple: More of us must become educated about the dangers we face; we must feel the urgency of the problem; and we must be willing to make our position known, as forcefully as necessary./span>

Here is something you can do this month. Make plans to attend the People’s Climate March on April 29. The central march is in Washington D.C., near the White House and the monuments. Other marches are planned all over the country and the world. If you cannot come to Washington, come to the march in Chicago (at Federal Plaza at noon), or in Des Moines (at the Capitol at 1pm). Go to PeoplesClimate.org for details.

What do marches accomplish? The most momentous social changes that have occurred in our society — from women’s suffrage to civil rights — have all used mass marches to build momentum and to signal a change in the public will. Marches build solidarity, strengthen resolve, and display the face of public concern. Join the march on April 29: It’s urgent. It’s your planet. Be there.