Map Courtesy of People's Climate March
People's Climate March Map
The lineup and route for the April 29 People's Climate March
United Methodists will be among those that gather in Washington, D.C. and in some 300 cities across the United States for the April 29 People's Climate March. Some of them will be participants from the National Caretakers of God's Creation Conference, which relocated from Ohio to the Washington, D.C., suburbs so that participants can participate in the climate march.
Officially billed as a "March for Climate, Jobs, Justice," the People's Climate March is the latest large-scale demonstration in protest of the actions and policies of the administration of President Donald J. Trump and the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress. Its official website lists nearly 40 "contingents," including a large Faith Contingent, that will participate in the event. "Sister Marches" are planned, many simultaneously with the Washington March, in cities throughout the United States including Alaska and Hawaii; in Mexico, Costa Rica and Brazil in Latin America; in cities throughout Europe; along the east coast of Africa; in Singapore, Hong Kong; and Kyoto, Japan in Asia; and in Gold Coast City and Hobart, Australia and Christchurch, New Zealand.
Ironically, bad weather may force the postponement or cancellation of a Climate March in Dallas, Texas, where Saturday's forecast predicts 100 percent chance of severe thunderstorms with hail. Dallas organizers said a notice would be posted on the event's website by Friday evening to alert participants to any change in plans.
"The current Congress and the new administration have taken unbelievably regressive and destructive positions on climate change ... This is exactly the wrong direction, and it is sinful."
– Rev. Fletcher Harper, People's Climate March Faith Continent Coordinator
Foundry United Methodist Church of Washington, through its Sacred Resistance ministry, will join in an interfaith Climate Change Vigil 10:00 a.m. April 29 on the lawn of the United Methodist Building at 100 Maryland Ave NE, in advance of the Climate March The Faith Contingent for the March will assemble at 11:00 a.m.on the Mall side of the U. S. Capitol. The March will proceed down Pennsylvania Avenue to surround the White House, and then proceed to the Washington Monument area. For more information, visit foundryumc.org/resist for updates, and address questions to resist@foundryumc.org.
The United Methodist Caretakers for God's Creation Climate Justice Conference was scheduled to take place on Friday, April 28, at Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church in Arlington, Va. The conference was expected to include workshops to help participants in climate justice advocacy and with developing greener churches.
Enthusiasm – or perhaps it's outrage – for the Climate March was furthered stimulated April 26 when the Trump administration issued an executive order "directing the Department of the Interior, led by Ryan Zinke, to review previous monument designations allowed under the 1906 Antiquities Act. According to White House officials, the review could bring 'changes or modifications' that could open more public lands to fossil fuel extraction." according to a People's Climate March press release.
"Indigenous leaders and climate activists have fought to gain monument designations for lands across the country to protect them from the fossil fuel industry. Areas like the Bears Ears National Monument, a 1.35-million acre area in Utah including sacred Native American lands, could be at risk for losing their protected status. National parks like the Grand Canyon exist because of the Antiquities Act, and any move by the Trump administration to revoke protections of designated monuments will likely face challenges in court," the press release said.
“The current Congress and the new administration have taken unbelievably regressive and destructive positions on climate change, denying the most basic climate science, proposing policies that will harm human health, eliminate green jobs, and increase greenhouse gas emissions. This is exactly the wrong direction, and it is sinful," said Rev. Fletcher Harper, national coordinator of the People's Climate March Faith Contingent, in a press release. Rev. Harper also serves as executive director of GreenFaith, a global interfaith coalition for the environment.
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor and Founder of United Methodist Insight.