Formation 2013 Legal status 501(c)(3) | Type NGO | |
Motto Stepping forward for our Planet, our Future Purpose Inspire the general public and elected officials to take climate action Headquarters Des Moines, Iowa, United States | ||
The Great March for Climate Action (also known as the Climate March) was launched on March 1, 2013 by former Iowa lawmaker Ed Fallon, inspired after meeting with Bill McKibben. “Since probably 2007, I’ve identified the climate crisis as the most serious challenge facing our planet, and I’ve been pondering ways in which I could most effectively help address it.”
Contents
- March route
- Reasons for marching
- Logistics
- Other activist marches in political and social change
- References
The non-profit organization planned to mobilize one thousand people to march across the continental United States in order to raise awareness and action on anthropogenic climate change. In the end, five people completed the entire march. The march began March 1, 2014 in Wilmington neighborhood in South Los Angeles, California, and ended on November 1, 2014 when marchers arrived in Washington, D.C. Along the route, participants engaged with the general public and elected officials in order to inspire society to address climate change.
In a Des Moines Register interview Fallon said, “We think it’s very important. We think this is a tool that will help mobilize people to understand the problem and to do more about it…this needs to become the defining issue of this century.” Fallon was inspired in part by another cross-country march, the 1986 Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament, for which he coordinated the Iowa logistics. Although this was a national campaign, it was intended to have an international audience and was desired to include participants from multiple nations, as climate change is a global phenomenon.
The headquarters of the non-profit are located in Des Moines, Iowa. As of October 2013 they had six staff, had raised $120,000, and earned endorsements from 350.org, James Hansen, and U.S. Senator Tom Harkin and Congressman Bruce Braley among others.
March route
The marchers departed from Santa Monica, California on March 1, 2014, traveling through Nebraska (focus on the Keystone Pipeline) and ended in Washington, D.C. in November, 2014. The route passed through the following cities (unverified):
Reasons for marching
Reverend Bob Cook planned to take part in the march. "The Des Moines pastor’s life work has been for the poor, but he doesn’t view the Great March for Climate Action as a departure. The poor are affected most by climate change, as they are from most troubling world events, Cook said."
Logistics
An average day’s walk was expected to be 14–15 miles. Campsites for tents were prearranged. Organizers had hoped to haul all of the gear and supplies via bicycles to minimize energy consumption and maximize sustainability, but after some intensive research this proved infeasible, so trucks running on biodiesel or vegetable oil fuel were used. Research into solar cookers, composting toilets, determined how far the marchers were able to use sustainable methods to handle food and energy needs, and human waste. Participants and volunteers shared daily chores including but not limited to setting up camp, food preparation and clean-up. Interactive workshops focused on climate change, the anthropogenic effect on the environment, and active solutions.
Other activist marches in political and social change
Throughout history, marches have been associated with political and social change. Examples include but are not limited to: the Woman Suffrage Parade of 1913, Gandhi's Salt March to defy Britain's imperial power, Martin Luther King Jr's Selma to Montgomery marches for voting rights and the Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament. Peace walks have been particularly popular in the peace movement.