FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 3, 2014, 5:00 a.m. CST
Contact Ed Fallon at (515) 238-6404 or ed@climatemarch.org
Keystone Report Underscores Need for Climate March
The release of a State Department report on the Keystone Pipeline makes it clear that the Great March for Climate Action comes at a critical moment in the climate crisis, contends the March’s founder. The Great March for Climate Action begins in Los Angeles on March 1st and arrives in Washington, DC on November 1st. It travels through Nebraska in mid-July, crossing the path of the proposed Keystone Pipeline.
“What’s it going to take for President Obama to do the right thing?,” said March founder and director Ed Fallon, a former state representative from Des Moines, Iowa. “Over 200 protests are planned today in response to the State Department report. Twenty-two cities have signed on to the fossil fuel divestment campaign. Over 76,000 people have committed to do civil disobedience. If this unprecedented level of citizen climate activism isn’t enough to convince the President to say ‘No’ to Keystone, perhaps the Climate March will convince him.”
Over 225 people have signed up to march all or part of the eight-month, 3,000-mile trek across America. Participants come from 37 states and six foreign countries. Over $200,000 has been raised from hundreds of donors, and numerous businesses and organizations have offered equipment, endorsements, and other types of assistance.
“Marchers are making tremendous sacrifices,” concluded Fallon. “Giving up jobs and homes, deferring on college, foregoing other commitments. We’re preparing physically and psychologically to walk 14-15 miles a day through heat, rain and all kinds of adversity. We’re willing to sleep in tents night after night, to leave behind our families, friends and modern conveniences. We know that immediate action on the climate crisis is needed and that stopping Keystone is the pivotal first step. We’re willing to do our part, and we’re eager to see if the President will do his.”