POUGHKEEPSIE – An estimated
3,000 people marched across the Walkway Over the Hudson on Saturday in
support of social justice, jobs and clean energy.
Climate marches were held across the country to coincide with the Trump
administration’s 100 days in office. “We’re excited
to be together in solidarity to send a strong message to our country that
we are united as a diverse community of allies,” said Lauren Ardman,
one of the Walkway event organizers. “These People’s Climate
marches are crucial, local ways to show support for this powerful and
inclusive movement,” she said.
Participants rally for climate change (Facebook: Fred Schaeffer)
Event coordinator Alexandria Wojcik said New York’s anti-fracking
movement demonstrated the power of the local movement. “The Hudson
Valley is a Petri dish for effective grassroots organizing,” she
said. “We’ve already stood up to some of the scariest super-villains
of our time, looked them directly in the eyes, and after years of persistence,
we won; we already know how to resist and we just need to apply the same
tactics on an even bigger scale now. Today is just the beginning of the
next phase of the People’s Climate Movement.”
Rachel LaBere, another organizer, said they have been organizing locally
“to stop the rollbacks on policies that helped address climate change
and environmental injustice.” She said elected leaders “need
to see that their dreary, divisive vision is not what this nation wants
or believes in.”
