Marchers walked down Broadway Street shouting chants like, “This is what democracy looks like!” and “Wall Street, Wall Street, hey you, we deserve a future too!” for the 2018 Walk for the Climate on Sept. 16.
Organized by Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, the event gathered Columbia activists at Courthouse Square to rally for climate action. The participants went on a 5k walk through downtown Columbia and the MU campus, holding signs asking for change and chanting for more attention on the issue.
This was the fourth annual climate walk organized by Peaceworks, and it had partners such as the Sierra Club, an environmental organization that acts throughout the country, and Mizzou Energy Action Coalition, MU’s activist student group that focuses on getting the university to divest from fossil fuels.
“Investing in fossil fuels is investing in profit off of climate change,” Haley Gronniger, president of Mizzou Energy Action Coalition, said. “We sponsored this walk. We’re trying to raise awareness and get the attention of the administration, make them realize that they do need to hear us.”
Peaceworks also invited all candidates running for state and federal legislative seats representing Boone County to speak their minds on the issue of climate change before the walk started. Seven candidates were present in the event: Maren Bell Jones, Kip Kendrick, Martha Stevens, Bill Hastings, Adrian Plank — sent a surrogate for his absence— and Michela Skelton for state seats and Renee Hoagenson for a federal legislative spot.
“We don’t endorse or oppose candidates, but we do educate our members and the public on where the candidates stand on the issues,” Mark Haim, director of Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, said. “There are candidates, as far as we can tell, who deny that climate change is real and that’s a problem. We see floods, fires, super storms and extreme droughts. We’re going to see over the course of the next decades many climate refugees and that’s unacceptable. This has to be a priority issue.”
The main goal of the walk was to create awareness and address the participants’ concern on the issue of climate change; however, activists marching the five kilometers could have sponsors make donations to Peaceworks’ education and advocacy programs.
“I came out to march today because the climate is something that is dear to my heart,” freshman Barbara Kuensting said. “This is why I’m going to school, for environmental science, and also as a journalism student.”
Together, participants made their way down College Avenue, walked by the MU Student Center and Speakers Circle and marched on East Broadway until they got back to Courthouse Square, all while holding signs and banners with sayings such as “Climate Action Now,” “Save The Planet” and “I can’t believe I’m marching for facts.”
“We feel that the climate crisis is something that needs to be made very visible,” Haim said. “The main thing is getting people together so they know they’re not alone in their feelings. And, when members of the public see it in the paper or the news, they know that there are other people that care and it encourages them.”
_Edited by Alexandra Sharp | asharp@themaneater.com_
