Sunday, September 21, 2014, marked a major milestone in awareness of climate change. More than 400,000 people from all over the world were present in New York City to raise awareness of the world warming by degrees. A group of Pitt students, organized by Pitt Junior, Sage Lincoln, were present at the March. They were able to go by raising money at bake sales, applying for grants, and using a GoFundMe campaign. They raised more than $2,000 to fund their trip that took more than 50 students interested in participating in the March.
So why did they march? Two days after the March, this past Tuesday, the U.N. met for a Climate Summit to address worldwide climate change. The point of the March was to call attention to the impact of climate change and demand change. Pitt Junior, Lora Matway, was one of the students present at the March and talked with me about the potential impact of the March.
“[The People’s Climate Change March] was indicative of this gap that the environmental movement is closing with the public eye,” she said. “There’s this idea that environmentalism is all about the polar bears and it’s really not. It’s about a lot of marginalized people and poorer countries and minorities that get hit worse by climate change.”
The March was not limited to New York City. More than 4,000 similar marches occurred in more than 160 countries around the world. The March in NYC, however, was the largest climate change march recorded in history. Says Matway, “You had babies, you had scientists, you had people from all over the world.”
Pitt Junior, Allison Smyth, was also present at the March and was amazed at the turnout. When asked about the impact that the March had, she had this to say: “I think we got people’s attention. We weren’t there to change the environment. We were there to get people to help us change the environment.”
Image credit: Matway’s Facebook page