NEW YORK, NY–In what is expected to be the largest demonstration of its kind ever, upwards of 100,000 people are expected to participate in a New York City march calling for action to combat climate change, including a sizable contingent from New Brunswick.
The march begins at Columbus Circle at 11:30 am, and comes just two days before a UN meeting called by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon  to address climate change.
Climate change is a current problem disturbing the environment that is, according to the official website of the 2014 Climate Summit, “disrupting national economies, costing us dearly today and even more tomorrow.”
In response, on Sunday September 21, the large crowd of environmentalists will be gathering in New York City to march in order to demonstrate the dire need for change.
Protesters hope that the march will help spark a mass realization that climate change is a large problem the Earth is currently facing, one that can only be halted by switching to more environmentally-friendly sources of energy, better managing waste sites, and promoting healthier wildlife.
More information is available at the website, PeoplesClimateMarch.org.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that “rising global temperatures have also been accompanied by other changes in weather and climate.”
“Many places have experienced changes in rainfall resulting in more intense rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves,” reads the EPA website.
Not only this, but the EPA says that “Oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, ice caps are melting, and sea levels are rising.”
In the past century, the global temperature has increased by over 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit and the decade 2000 to 2010 has been the warmest one on record, according to the EPA.
Locally, there are multiple organizations from New Brunswick with members that are attending the march.
These include Rutgers-based organizations like Students for Environmental Awareness (SEA), Rutgers Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign (RFFDC), and the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA), and two other local groups, New Jersey Food and Water Watch and the Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War.
According to RFFDC President Shane Patel, the SEA is bringing 30 people and in total 150 people are registered as well as many other students that are traveling separately. Â He added that Rutgers human ecology professor Dr. David Hughes, and Judy Storch, dean of Cook Campus will also be joining the march.
According to their website, SEA “aims to raise awareness about the environment in a way that is enjoyable and fun for [their] members and the students [they] reach out to”
It is a an activist, student-run organization that “motivates and inspires individuals to help protect, conserve, and clean up the environment.”
RFFDC works to “push the Rutgers Governing boards into divesting the University’s endowment from the fossil fuel industry,” as we reported last year.
They are hoping to convince the Governing Boards of Rutgers to stop accepting funding from fossil-fuel-producing companies and withdraw their investments from them in order to re-invest in renewable energy alternatives.
Food and Water Watch is a national organization that works to, “help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to protect its citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping the global commons – our shared resources – under public control.”
Charlie is the founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, and the winner of the Awbrey Award for Community-Oriented Local Journalism. He is a proud Rutgers University journalism graduate, a community organizer, and a former independent candidate for mayor of New Brunswick.
