October 30–End Environmental Racism: A Climate Emergency Rally & March

by C3M Steering Committee

On Saturday, October 30 at 2 p.m. on the north steps of the State Capitol in Hartford, climate justice advocates will gather for a rally and march to send a clear message to state leaders to stop the fossil fuel expansion and end environmental racism immediately. The gathering will include speakers, guerrilla theater, mural art-making, and more. Ajali, an Afro-Caribbean and West African drumming group, will lead our march around the Capitol.

The climate crisis is happening now. Levels of the two most important anthropogenic greenhouse gases continued their unrelenting rise in 2020, NOAA announced in April 2021. Despite pandemic shutdowns, carbon dioxide and me-thane surged in 2020 and carbon dioxide levels are now higher than at any time in the past 3.6 million years. Climate impacts recently caused loss of life in our region; people drowned in their homes in the Eastern United States, and the majority who suffer from climate disruption are people of color and from low-income communities.

Recently, scientists with the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change leaked  a preliminary draft of the Sixth Assessment Report, because “there’s no time for continued in-action – the people deserve to know NOW what our corporate-owned politicians have done to them.” These scientists, calling themselves Scientist Rebellion, also stated “We plead with people to go into serious nonviolent resistance, to join us in the streets to apply unbearable pressure on this genocidal system – to take it down before it takes us all down with it.”

Globally and in Connecticut, leaders are failing to take serious action on the climate, although we know that we have precious little time. Greenhouse gas emissions in Connecticut are on the rise from various sectors, and so far, our state has taken no significant action to reduce carbon dioxide or methane. In fact, the actions taken by our state are increasing carbon dioxide and methane emissions now, when we are well overdue to make a real plan to reduce global heating gases. Join us in raising our voices to demand action on climate from Connecticut leadership.

A number of groups are organizing together to build an anti-racist climate movement, that attempts to form alliances with new allies across ethnic, class, gender-conforming, age, and other traditional barriers. Rally organizers include NAACP Windham/Willimantic Branch, CT Women’s March, Sunrise CT, BLM 860, CT Climate Crisis Mobilization (C3M), 350 CT, and Sierra Club Connecticut.

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