Advocates for Morris

The Climate March, Explained

We're really looking forward to seeing all our fracktivist friends at the People's Climate March, next Sunday, Sept. 21st, and at all the amazing events leading up to it. This is a chance not only to show the world that fracking = methane = climate change, it's a chance for activists from around the country to meet each other and build our movement. There are many contingents joining the march (Labor, Faith, EJA, and more). This newsletter is aimed at making sure everyone whose focus is fracking, pipelines, LNG and fossil fuels knows where to go and what to do. Here's the countdown, working backwards from the march, day by day. Seeya soon!

The fracking hub of the march will be a powerful contingent, filled with art, banners and media-perfect images: we'll be bouncing inflated methane molecules like beach balls; the huge LNG tanker from the DC march will be there; plus a 100-foot pipeline and a block-filling painted parachute! And we will have great company: we'll be marching with tar sands and mountaintop removal activists. Together we will tell the world that extreme energy extraction is SO last century.

HOW TO GET HERE: If you haven't signed up for a bus yet, click here. If you need a place to stay the night before the march, Sane Energy Project has reserved space at a youth hostel located near the march lineup. We have just a few beds left. Email contact@saneenergyproject.org if you want to reserve a bed. For other accommodations, click here.

WHERE TO MEET: Find us on Central Park West between 80th and 81st street. Enter at 81st street (or 77th street). Get there as close to 8am as you can manage. As the blocks fill up, police will seal off those streets. If you arrive later you may be moved to the end of the march. Because there are so many folks ahead of us, we probably won't start moving until around noon. Buses are not due in until about 11am. If you can't join our hub right at the start of the march, don't panic. We'll either catch up to each other en route, or see each other at the closing celebration in front of Javitz Center. The important thing is to tell the world about fracking and climate change!

HOW TO PREPARE: If police seal an area you won't be able to get back in if you leave, so please bring plenty of water, sunscreen and food. Port-o-sans will be provided. If you have trouble standing please bring a folding stool or seat. We're asking volunteer musicians and performers to come keep our spirits up and get everyone dancing and singing while we wait!

IF YOU HAVE MOBILITY ISSUES: We don't have details yet but we know there will be at least 2 points along the march where those with trouble walking can join for a short distance, or leave the march if necessary. Stay tuned or check the PCM website for details as they are released.

HOW TO HELP: What's the point of this march? To get our message out to the UN, Obama, Cuomo, De Blasio, and anyone who is along the route, or recording it for media. To that end, please volunteer to hand out the variety of postcards we have created for the march. Pick up a couple hundred cards at any of the events we'll be at this week (see below), so that no matter where you end up in the march, you'll be ready!

One of the cards we've created is a summary of The Solutions Project; how New York State can go 100% renewable by 2050. This is something we want to get out to the public in a big way. We also have a card listing 5 "no brainer" climate solutions for NYC, including choosing a wind farm over LNG (duh!) How can we make sure all New Yorkers know about this? Only with your help!

The Seachange Flotilla lands in Kingston and stops for a photo with one of our "You Are Here" map pins.

PS: One of the more inspired events around the Climate march has been the Seachange Flotilla (aka, We All LIve Downstream). Watch this video for a taste of the intense creative power behind this effort.

This collection of handmade PAPER canoes launched from Troy, NY two weeks ago, and landed in Inwood on Saturday! Along the way they stopped in numerous Hudson River towns, highlighting the risks from climate change and fracking, such as the Spectra AIM pipeline and numerous gas and nuclear power plants along the route. They'll be floating around the tip of Manhattan as we are all marching on Sunday.

For two years, Sane has been developing this project in collaboration with dozens of upstate allies. This groundbreaking interactive map catalogs all the existing and proposed shale gas infrastructure in New York State, AND connects users to the local groups fighting it. And, to connect the development of shale gas with the political situation in NY, Zephyr Teachout will say a few opening words. At this forum, you will meet the contributors to the map and speak with affected front-line activists working against frack waste, the Seneca Salt Caverns, the Constitution Pipeline, and various downstate projects as well. We'll have iPads so you can try out the map for yourself. Part of the Climate Convergence, at The Graffiti Church, 205 E. 7th St., between Avenues B & C, Manhattan. Free (suggested donations to cover costs) To register, click here. or just show up! The Convergence will run from 8:30am until 5:30pm.
PICK UP POSTCARDS FOR THE MARCH HERE!

Lots of people will be coming in from out of town for the march, including folks who've traveled across the country, from upstate, Texas, DC, California and Pennsylvania. An informal networking and social gathering will take place in Tompkins Square Park, just half a block from the Climate Convergence, at the Gaia/Krishna Tree near the center of the park (the park is between 7th and 10th streets and Avenues A and B). PICK UP POSTCARDS FOR THE MARCH HERE!

There's no shortage of ways to gear up for the march this last night before. The big event at Ethical Culture has been sold out for a week (PICK UP POSTCARDS FOR THE MARCH HERE!), but check out these other options (needless to say, ARRIVE EARLY to any of these stellar events):

5-7pm: FRACK OFF: Indigenous Women Leading Media Campaigns to Defend our Climate. Activists Shelley A. Young, Kandi Mosset, Elle Maija Tailfeathers, and Ellen Gabriel discuss high-profile campaigns by indigenous groups in Canada and the U.S. that protest the oil and fracking industries. @ The New School, 66 West 12th Street, Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall.

7-9pm: Closing Plenary of the Climate Convergence features Naomi Klein, Jaqui Patterson, Desmond D'Sa and Olga Bautista, @ Saint Peter's Church, 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street (near the Citicorp building).

8-10pm: The Climate Crisis: Which Way Out? Join Senator Bernie Sanders, Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein, Chris Hedges, Kshama Sawant and Van Jones for a discussion of strategies and tactics for the climate movement. Moderated by Brian Lehrer of WNYC. @ The Unitarian Church of All Souls, 1157 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY Corner of East 80 Street. FREE.

5pm: Today's Fossil Fuels and the Future of our Children's Health. Ignoring all the bad news about climate change won't make it go away; especially when it comes to what could negatively impact our most vulnerable of population, children. @ John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 524 W. 59th Street, near 10th Avenue. FREE but reservations strongly recommended. Sane Energy Project is a cosponsor. PICK UP POSTCARDS FOR THE MARCH HERE!

IN MANHATTAN:
6:30pm: Resistance Cinema presents screening: Groundswell Rising, The Human Cost of Fracking. SPECIAL GUEST: MARK LICHTY, Executive Producer. @ Community Church of New York Assembly Hall, 40 East 35 Street, between Madison and Park. FREE (donations appreciated). PICK UP POSTCARDS FOR THE MARCH HERE!

IN BUSHWICK:
7-9pm: Fracking Voices From the Frontlines. Speakers, including Madeline Stano, CA; Jenny Lisak, PA; Asha Canalos, NY; and Martin Guillermo Mullaly, Argentina, will share stories from their communities of resilience, resistance, and strength against extractive industries. @ MayDay / PCM Arts Space, 3rd floor, 214 Starr Street. Brooklyn Map here. L train to Jefferson Street station.

7- 8:30pm: Climate Conversations: Why the UN's Climate Summit is Important to All of Us A discussion with Lisa DiCaprio, Yvonne O'Neal, Beth Ackerman, and Philip Orton; Moderated by Steve Knight, GreenFaith. @ Church of the Holy Trinity, 316 E 88th St, between 2nd and 1st Avenues. FREE. Sane Energy Project is a cosponsor. PICK UP POSTCARDS FOR THE MARCH HERE!

6:30pm: Screening, The Future of Energy, NYC Premiere

A powerful documentary that captures the movement across the United States to transition to renewable energy and what everyday people are doing to help foster that shift. It's a love story about the countless individuals and communities that are re-imagining their relationships with the planet and with each other.

Featuring: Mark Jacobson, CA Governor Jerry Brown, Mayors Bob Dixon and R. Rex Parris who have transitioned their cities to 100% renewable energy.

Get tickets here: @ New York Society for Ethical Culture,
2 West 64th Street at Central Park West. Sane Energy Project is a cosponsor.
PICK UP POSTCARDS FOR THE MARCH HERE!

8pm to 9:30pm: Screening: Cowspiracy
The vegan advocates / filmmakers claim there is a conspiracy of silence by the big greens about industrial-scale animal agriculture, which they consider the biggest cause of climate change on the planet.

As one of the forces behind Food Not Fracking, and as advocates for farmers, we sure want to see what they're on about. We know that done right, meat can be sustainably raised, in a way that even fixes carbon in the soil, and that upstate farmers are some of our best advocates against fracking. Join us to check out the controversy: @ Jivamukti Yoga Center, 841 Broadway, near 13th street, upstairs.
PICK UP POSTCARDS FOR THE MARCH HERE!

Believe it or not, this is just a SMALL SAMPLING of climate march events. You want the whole nine yards? Check here, and here and here! Have a great week, see you at the march!