I’ll admit, I’m still afraid of falling in the Charles River. As a kid growing up in Cambridge, I used to hear horror stories of what would happen if you went for a swim in that polluted waterway. A third eye. Eighteen fingers. Eaten by the swamp thing.
And while I loved that dirty water, I love it even more now that the impossible has become a reality: the Charles is clean (or a good deal cleaner). Thanks to the hard work of groups like the Charles River Watershed Association, the Charles River Conservancy, and many others, the river has returned to much of its natural glory. Government action, citizen organizing, and a lot of volunteer sweat brought back one of Massachusetts’ great treasures.
When it comes to climate change, we’re polluting the atmosphere at a rate that puts the sewage that used to flow into the Charles to shame. This year, the parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere skyrocketed past 400 ppm, far above the 350 ppm that scientists say is the safe upper limit.
We’re already seeing the impacts of this pollution, from the devastating drought in California and the Southwest to super-storms like Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy. Just today, a storm dumped 13-inches of rain on Long Island in a single morning, more than doubling the previous record.
Scientists have warned us that we’re at risk of passing dangerous tipping points, after which climate change could spiral out of control. The message is clear: if we’re going to act, we’ve got to act now.
That’s why, this September 21, 350.org, the organization I co-founded with a group of college friends and writer Bill McKibben, is coming together with over 700 partner organizations across the country and around the world to organize the People’s Climate March in New York City.
The march will take place two days before President Obama and world leaders attend a critical climate summit at the United Nations. They’ll be trying to build momentum for a new, international climate treaty that will be negotiated in Paris next year. If the meeting is a success, we’ll still have a window to push for the type of bold action needed to stabilize the planet. If it’s a bust, it may be too late to pick up the pieces.
Maybe it’s just hometown pride, but I want to make sure that the People’s Climate March is full of Massachusetts residents (and Red Sox fans–it’s lonely down here in NYC sometimes!). Massachusetts has been a hotbed for the climate movement for years. From the fossil fuel divestment movement, which has swept college campuses across the state, to the campaigns against fossil fuel infrastructure like Brayton Point, Bay State residents have shown the spirit and fight that makes us famous.
To help make sure that Massachusetts, and broader New England, is fired up and ready to organize for the People’s Climate March, Bill McKibben and our team are hosting a big pep-rally at the Boston Opera House this Friday, August 22. It’s going to be an amazing evening, full of music, speeches, and updates from the frontlines of the climate movement.