On the Road to Climate Action. Washington, DC, Here We Come!

The sun sets on a great day of climate action

What an amazing day! We were just featured on the WCSH-6 TV news at 6:00. We have gotten back to the bus and are headed home. Hopefully the wind and snow have stopped by the time we get home tomorrow morning.

Take a look at photos and news clips from the day at www.nrcm.org/ForwardOnClimate.asp

Please share your thoughts about the rally here on our blog in the comment section of this post. What were some of the highlights of the day for those of you who were there?

When you get home and are rested, please don't forget to share your photos with us. You can email them to nrcm@nrcm.org.

 

 

We are at the White House

And look who we ran into!

 

 

 

Sunday 1:15 p.m.

The speakers were amazing. Now, we are getting ready to march to the White House. What an amazing event. The official count is more than 35,000 people in Washington, DC to make our voices heard on climate change. We have been having an amazing day! There are a lot of new photos posted on our Facebook page. Check them out and please send yours along to nrcm@nrcm.org.

 

 

Mainers Gather

Because people headed to Washington by car, bus, and train, we decided to have a common location at which everyone could meet in advance of the noontime rally. We gathered, along with several other groups from Maine, at the World War II memorial to greet each other, get even more energized for the rally, and have a chance to talk about what this rally means to all of us in Maine. We want climate action now. We want tar sands oil to stay out of our state. We want to make a difference. If you want to make a difference, write to President Obama and add your voice to the thousands of voices in Washington, DC, telling him that we demand climate action NOW!

 

Sunday Morning, 7:30 a.m.

The photo is a little blurry, but I wanted you share a photo from the bus at 15 minutes from our destination (7:30 a.m., Sunday, Feb. 17). Excitement on the bus is building as we look forward to our arrival and the reason we're here: to send a clear message to President Obama and Congress that it's time to move #ForwardOnClimate!

(Listen to my radio interview with WZON about the trip to D.C.)

Good morning from Maryland

It is 7:00 a.m. and we are in Baltimore. Lee, our driver, did a great job driving through the night. We saw some snow in Connecticut and Massachusetts but no snow is in sight this morning. Well, we understand that there is some snow back in Maine, but none for us. At our third pit stop, we had a chance to visit our 350.org Massachusetts friends. Everyone is so excited to get to Washington this morning! Thanks to everyone for your support. We expect more than 200 Mainers to meet us for a Maine rally in advance of the bigger rally. Just a reminder, Mainers will be gathering at 11:00 a.m. at the World War II memorial. If you are in DC, we hope to see you there!

 

Saturday Evening and...We're Off!

You can see some pictures of our group as we gathered and boarded the bus in Portland, Maine here: http://tinyurl.com/c8ayup5

WCSH-6 came to see us off and talk to some of the folks riding the bus.

Follow our trip on Twitter @NRCMenvironment. You can follow the whole rally at #ForwardOnClimate.

More updates coming in the morning. As of this posting at 10:25 p.m., we have made it to Massachusetts and stopped to switch bus drivers. Our new driver, Lee, is a very strong supporter of climate action. We are sure he will get us to DC safe and sound by morning.

On the Road to Climate Action

by Emmie Theberge, NRCM Clean Energy Outreach Coordinator

I’m headed to D.C. this weekend with 30 NRCM members for the historic Forward on Climate rally. We will join tens of thousands of people from across the nation to march on Washington for climate action! 
 
This is going to be a momentous event. Whether you’re meeting us in D.C. or will be watching from home, you can follow the action on NRCM’s Facebook page, website, or Twitter feed. We will also be adding updates to this blog post, so come back often to learn the latest from the Forward on Climate Rally.
 
Will you be in D.C.?
 
Whether you’re coming from Maine or elsewhere, I hope to see you down there! More than 200 Mainers will be travelling down via bus, train, and carpools. We'll meet up at the National World War II memorial on Sunday from 11:00 to 11:30 a.m. for a Maine climate gathering in advance of the big rally! I hope all those who love Maine will join us there!
 
Your photos will help us capture the excitement of the event and will help send the message, visually, that we want action on climate NOW! So please share your photos with us in real time or after we return! You can email them to nrcm@nrcm.org or share them on NRCM’s Facebook page.
 
Can’t make it?
 
If you can't make the trip to D.C. this weekend, you can still send a message to President Obama urging him to take action to combat climate change.
 
Climate change is the most important environmental problem we face. It is already having a devastating effect in Maine, the nation, and the planet. This demonstration is an opportunity to give our President and Congress the support they need to take bold action on climate change. Mainers spoke out loudly and clearly at the Portland tar sands rally last month, and now we are bringing that message to Washington, D.C.!
 
I cannot wait to be down there and feel the energy from this enormous climate movement. I know that I will be bringing with me the support of thousands of NRCM members and activists like you.

- Emmie Theberge, NRCM Clean Energy Outreach Coordinator