Marchers seek action on climate change

Thursday, October 29, 2009

MILFORD – They sang. They prayed. They marched. All in the name of climate change.

On Saturday, Oct. 24, more than 60 Souhegan Valley residents attended a local event for 350 Day, an international day of action around climate change timed to influence world leaders who will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December to craft a new global treaty on cutting emissions.

The number 350, scientists say, is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide measured in parts per million.

Attendees gathered at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Milford for a multi-faith worship service that included interfaith messages from area clergy, a children’s story about the earth, a 350 rap by local youth, and the Three Five O song. The Rev. Barbara McKusick Liscord of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Milford opened the worship service.

“Today, people all over the world are gathering as we are,” McKusick Liscord said. “Today, we are taking action towards healing God’s creation,” she said. Faith leaders from Messiah Lutheran, Brookline Community Church- United Church of Christ, St. Patrick’s, and Congregation Betenu also spoke about cherishing the earth during the service. Paul Franks of Congregation Betenu sang a poem by Hannah Szenes, a Hungarian Jew who parachuted into Yugoslavia during World War II to help save Jews and shared his love of the earth. Szenes’ poem lists things, such as “the sand and the sea” and “the rush of the water,” that she prays never end.

Luca Nevrla of Amherst and Jorden Lowry of Temple rapped, “This is an opportunity to save our community/Because our planet lacks immunity.” “You don’t see a whole lot of youth involved, but we’re the ones who are going to have to deal with (the effects of climate change),” Nevrla said.

After the service, attendees gathered for a 350 Day picture, which will be shown in Times Square in New York and at the United Nations along with pictures of 350 Day events from around the globe. They marched with musical instruments, flags, and signs that said things such as, “350: Above that, it gets iffy” towards the center of downtown Milford and then returned to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Milford for a party.

Gail Rusell, community representative from Representative Paul Hodes’ Nashua office, read a letter from the legislator. “New Hampshire’s identity has always been tied to our land and our climate,” the letter read. “If we don’t address climate change now, the effects on New Hampshire could be economically devastating,” it read.

Haele Paquette, 8, of Bedford read a letter from Senator Jeanne Shaheen. “Climate change is one of the most important issues we face today,” the letter read.

“Without the environment, we wouldn’t have water to drink or food to eat,” Paquette said of why she cares about the earth. “Without trees, we wouldn’t be able to breathe,” she said.

Attendees had the opportunity to learn about 350.org, Repower America, OxFam, and 1Sky at the event. Dave Warren of Repower America took videos of residents telling why the environment is so important to them.

“I really think that climate change is the most pressing issue of our time because of the impact that we, as humans, are having on the planet and ecosystems that have taken millions of years to grow,” Warren said. “As a society, we are singlehandedly destroying them,” he said.

Residents voiced their concern for the environment. “I came because I’m very concerned about the climate changing,” said Barbara Lowrey of Londonderry. “I can’t believe nothing is being done about it,” she said.

“We attended today for the future of all living things,” said Anica Naprta of Amherst, who attended the event with her mother-in-law, husband, and two daughters. “Humans are children of the earth,” she said.

To close out the day, a harvest lunch of bread, apples, and minestrone soup, much of which was from local farms and gardens, was served.

“If the world is to be saved, it will be saved by the likes of you,” McKusick Liscord said.

The number 350 is at the center of 350.org, an international campaign dedicated to building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis - the solutions that science and justice demand. The campaign’s mission is to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis and to create a new sense of urgency and possibility for our planet.

The campaign’s focus is on the number 350, as in parts per million, the level scientists have identified as the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere. The number, according to the campaign, is a symbol of where we need to head as a planet, as we have already passed the safe level and are currently at 390 parts per million and quickly rising.

350.org united the public, media, and political leaders behind the 350 goal by harnessing the power of the internet to coordinate a planetary day of action on October 24, 2009. The goal of these actions, which took place all over the world in such famous places as the Taj Mahal and the Great Barrier Reef, was to send a clear message to world leaders: the solutions to climate change must be equitable, they must be grounded in science, and they must meet the scale of the crisis.