By Heather Burns
There's nothing quite like helping to make history, but even so, getting my kids up and at 'em at 6:30 am on a Sunday was as difficult as expected...yet more than worth it.
MetroNorth trains bound for the City were packed with Connecticut business leaders, students, environmental groups and concerned citizens all donning teeshirts, hand made costumes and/or signs telling their climate story. As the train picked folks up along its stops, a sense of community, collaboration and solidarity grew between strangers.
In fact, an estimated 400,000 people took to New York City streets for the people's climate march -- that's four times the number anticipated. Aside from the A-listers you'd expect -- like Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Sting and Leonardo DiCaprio -- were top corporate executives from IKEA, NRG Unilever and members of We Mean Business, a "coalition of organizations working with thousands of the world’s most influential businesses and investors that recognize that the transition to a low carbon economy is the only way to secure sustainable economic growth and prosperity for all."
In fact, even Bristol Massachusetts district attorney, Sam Sutter, who dropped criminal charges against the fisherman who blocked a 40,000 ton delivery of coal heading to the Brayton Point Power Plant, joined in and provided Amy Goodman of Democracy Now with an interview.
What's this tell me? The Seas of Change are here; and not just because a bunch of hippies showed up to storm the streets. Business and political leaders, affluent individuals, religious groups, healthcare providers, youth, entrepreneurs, policy makers and celebrities all care about the issue.
In the wise words of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, "This is our world, this is our planet earth. It is a very small planet," "If we cannot swim together, we will always sink. There is no Plan B, because there is no Planet B."
