Taos- On Saturday, May 24th, 2014, the Great March for Climate Action will arrive from the south, reaching the Taos Visitor Center at 2:45 pm. All Taos community members are invited to join the banner procession along Paseo del Pueblo Sur into town. The procession will end at Kit Carson Park for a welcome and celebration at 4:00 pm. Blessings well be offered and speakers, along with the Climate Justice Gypsy Band, will celebrate the Marchers’ dedication and courage for marching across the United States to change the heart and minds of America, its elected legislators and people around the world Speakers include local author and environmental advocate William DeBuys who, in A Great Aridness: Climate Change & the Future of the American West, has written beautifully and with scientific precision about the likely transformations climate change is bringing to the southwest. DeBuys, the author of eight books and the recipient of numerous literary awards, lives and writes on a small farm in northern New Mexico. The marchers will speak about their travels, inspiration, and ideas for change.
Altogether, the Great March for Climate Action, which began in Los Angeles on March 1, 2014 and will end in Washington D.C. on November 1, 2014 totals 2,980 long miles. Marchers come from all over, leaving family, friends, work and school, to bring attention to the need for immediate action to address the growing threat of climate change. The group represents 36 different states, and 6 countries, and range in age from 20 to 73 years. To join the march or for route details, march history, and additional information about the Great March for Climate Action, please visit www.climatemarch.org.
While they are in New Mexico, the Great March for Climate Action is joining with many New Mexico groups as they call on New Mexico’s largest utilities to replace dirty coal with clean renewable energy. The arrival of the Climate March in New Mexico has also coincided with the release of the National Climate Assessment (http://nca2014.flovLXHnfw.gov/) which makes it very clear that human driven climate change is here now, and is altering lives in every region of the country. The report underscores the urgency of the climate marchers’ cause and clearly states that we have the power to slow the progress of climate change if we act now.
On Sunday, May 25th, 2014, marchers will be speaking in various local churches, and working on the Hanuman Temple garden, where they will be staying. On Monday, May 26th, 2014, the climate marchers will head north to San Cristobal. Taos community members are invited to join the march.
Partners in the Taos area who have been instrumental in co-organizing for the Climate March include: Amigos Bravos, TaDa Dance Studio, Neem Karoli Baba Ashram, and SMU Fort Burgwin Campus, with special thanks also to the Taos Goji Eco Lodge, the next camp site after Taos for the marchers.
The goal of the Great March for Climate Action is to change the hearts and minds of the American people, our elected leaders and people across the world to act now to address the climate crisis. The Great March for Climate Action is a mobile community, marching nearly 3,000 miles from Los Angeles, California to Washington DC, from March 1 to November.