"Step It Up: Reduce Carbon 80% by 2050 (photos from Seattle march)"

noemie maxwell:

I'd guess there were about 2,000 people at the Step it Up Rally yesterday in Seattle. As far as I know, this was a first for mass climate-action demonstrations, with hundreds of actions across the country in a call to Congress to enact immediate cuts in carbon emissions and pledge an 80% reduction by 2050.

The day started with a gathering at Occidental Park and then a colorful but relatively quiet and slow moving march a couple miles down the road to Myrtle Edwards Park. It began to rain about 10 minutes into the hour-long trip. I wasn't prepared with a hat or umbrella and the rain funneled through my hair directly onto my eyebrows and nose. Very annoying. My son's hair formed a wave in front of him and the rain cascaded neatly off beyond his toes (or so I enviously imagined). Along the way crowd leaders shouted out new climate chants. "What do we want? Clean Energy! When do we want it? Now!" ... and another I can't quite recall -- something about being too hot (I thought it coulda been catchier .. but, hey, this is just the first climate march...) As we entered Myrtle Edwards Park, the sun brilliantly appeared, as if the solar power chants had brought it out.

At the rally and solutions fair following the march, participants were offered pledge cards that included actions they could take to reduce their own carbon footprint. Speakers at the solutions fair included King County Executive Ron Sims, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, Reverend Lisa Domke, and KC Golden of Climate Solutions. More photos and notes appear below.