On Saturday, “several hundred demonstrators” reportedly took to the streets of Oakland in a march and rally ahead of the 21st U.N. Conference of the Parties in Paris (Nov. 30-Dec. 11), calling on world leaders to adopt an agreement on global warming.
“The climate crisis affects more than California,” Josie Camacho, executive secretary-treasurer of the Alameda Labor Council, told the Contra Costa Times. “It affects our nation and the world’s many poor and working families who are now being disproportionately affected. Unions must join with community and environmental activists to stop a world catastrophe. The actions we take today will determine the world our children and grandchildren will live in tomorrow,” she complained.
A coalition of over 100 labor, environmental, faith and social justice groups also participated in the march and rally, the Times reported–a number apparently not reflected in the low turnout.
During the rally, an inflatable beach ball with an Earth design on it was reportedly tossed between people throughout the crowd as a “metaphor for the communal caring for the Earth.”
Northern California Climate Mobilization in Oakland. #NCCM #ClimateMarch #climatechange pic.twitter.com/U6oGiXFcsj
— Green Bean (@iamgreenbean) November 21, 2015
The focus of the upcoming U.N. conference will be securing the first legally-binding international pact for reducing greenhouse gases. In addition to the United States and representatives from the European Union, India and China will also be present. President Barack Obam’s administration has consistently declared that global warming (climate change) is a greater threat than terrorism.
#Oakland Marches Against Capitalism and Climate Change via @OccupyOakland pic.twitter.com/K4OGTZSyt8
— Viva la causa! (@70torinoman) November 21, 2015
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz and on Facebook.
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