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Hundreds march to address climate change

Main Avenue gathering one of many across the country
Main Avenue gathering one of many across the country

Hundreds of marchers crowded Main Avenue on Saturday morning calling on politicians to value the Earth and address climate change.

The enthusiastic crowd carried signs reading “respect existence or expect resistance” and “may the forest be with you.”

A coalition of local groups organized the People’s Climate March and Rally, one of many gatherings across the country.

The Durango event drew about 650 people, far more than expected, said organizer Susan Atkinson.

The march stopped at Buckley Park where the crowd heard from three La Plata Electric Association board candidates, Rachel Landis, Kim Martin and Guinn Unger and out-going board member Jeff Berman. The organizers invited the LPEA candidates because they wanted the crowd to know LPEA co-op members can vote in the May election and support renewable energy, Atkinson said.

Berman asked the crowd to hold LPEA accountable because while the co-op advertises how green it is, most of its power comes from coal-fired power plants.

“I think La Plata Electric does a fantastic job in keeping our lights on and maintaining our quality of life in that regard,” he said. “But at the same time, we have failed and we continue to fail to address climate change. We don’t even want to hear about it in the board room.”

It’s the detailed decisions the LPEA board makes that make a difference, he said.

“We need much more scrutiny,” he said.

The board may renew its contract to buy renewable energy produced by Williams, a natural gas and energy company, soon, and buying that power limits how much the co-op can invest in other renewable energy projects, he said in an interview.

Activist and climber Kitty Calhoun also urged the crowd to consider a minimalistic lifestyle to cut back on carbon consumption. She laid out a stark alternative if we continue to consume all our resources.

“We’ll have nothing left to give and nothing left to leave behind,” she said.

Some who attended the rally hoped the marches across the country would encourage policy changes on the federal level.

Deborah Lycan carried a sign that read “the stone age didn’t end because we ran out of stone” to point out that humans don’t need to keep using oil and gas just because its available. Renewable energy can replace fossil fuels and accelerate the economy and America has the opportunity to be at the forefront, she said.

“I think climate change is the most important issue we face as a world, we don’t have 50 years to figure this out,” she said.

Max McPherson attended because he is concerned about the mass extinction humans are causing and he wanted politicians to take note of the rallies nationally.

“I want to make politicians nervous, I want them to be nervous about our power,” he said.

mshinn@durangoherald.com



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