Area environmentalists in thousands head to NYC for climate march

Thousands of activists from the Philadelphia area joined throngs of demonstrators from across the nation in Manhattan on Sunday for the People's Climate March.

Organizers hoped it would be the largest climate-awareness mobilization ever.

A broad coalition of environmental groups, students, veterans, religious organizations, and labor and community groups scheduled the event for two days before the United Nations convenes a meeting of world leaders to address climate change.

Similar events were held around the globe.

In New York, political leaders such as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, former Vice President Al Gore, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio walked, as did celebrities such as actors Mark Ruffalo and Leonardo DiCaprio.

In London, celebrities including actress Emma Thompson and musician Peter Gabriel joined tens of thousands of people in the march through the capital's center.

A small gathering in Cairo featured a 50-foot art piece representing wind and solar energy.

Observers in New York described a vast sea of humanity.

The Fairmount Park Conservancy tweeted: "Lots of People! Lots of Energy!"

The Philadelphia area sent more than 3,000 marchers.

Early in the day, the first of seven buses pulled away from the Friends Center at 15th and Cherry Streets.

"The first transport is away!" shouted Jonathan Lipman, 37, of South Philadelphia, bus coordinator for 350 Philly, one of dozens of groups that sent marchers of all ages from the region.

Virginia Harris, 57, of Center City, said she had been interested in environmental issues and cleaner energy for years. But she sensed something new about the People's Climate March.

"I'm excited about the fact that what is coming together now that's different from before is that we're doing this as an economic-justice issue," she said. "Changing the focus from just about the environment to being about people's lives. It's really resonating," Harris said.

"This is the day that the tide will turn," she said.

Micah Gold-Markel had biked to the Friends Center from Northern Liberties with his daughter, Orianna, seated behind him.

"There are a lot of people here," Gold-Markel, 37, told his daughter, 51/2, who pulled off her white, pink, and lavender bike helmet to reveal a regal pink headband she had selected for her first march.

"We care about the environment, and the People's Climate March is very important for the future, especially for this young lady," Gold-Markel said as he nodded toward his daughter. "We talked about pollution and all the problems."

Gold-Markel runs Solar States, a North Philadelphia company that provides solar energy installations for businesses and homes. "Solar energy is about more than just environmentalism," he said. "It's about combating eco-apartheid. Environmentalism . . . should be for everyone. That's part of what we're marching for. Everyone needs to be included."

"This is the most important issue of our time," said Elisabeth McColm of Media.

She said she worried about coastal flooding from rising sea level and about climbing temperatures and catastrophic weather events that scientists have predicted for 2100 if climate change is not addressed now.

"We're not going to live to see it," McColm said.

"But she will," she said, holding her 13-month-old daughter, Sadie.

The seven buses that departed the Friends Center carried 350 people, including babies in arms and a woman in a wheelchair. A contingent from Beth David Reform Congregation in Gladwyne was aboard, as were Sierra Club members from Drexel University.

The inventive drivers had to cope with unanticipated gridlock Sunday morning as streets throughout Center City were closed for the Philadelphia Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Race.

Sacari Barnes, 17, exhausted and teary-eyed, arrived at the center right before the last bus left. Stymied by the blockaded streets, Barnes, a student at Community College of Philadelphia, had run from 22d and Market Streets, a distance of 10 blocks.

"I really wanted to do the march, and I thought I was going to miss the bus," she said as she hurried to board. "I was really interested in this. The environment is really important to me."

The buses also had a few international marchers.

Canadians Elizabeth Moffat and Ashley Wagner said they had taken an overnight bus from the Kitchener-Waterloo area in Ontario, west of Toronto, to march with Philadelphia.

"We didn't have a really big local event," Moffat said. "We wanted to be part of the climate march. I have this wonderful sister from Philadelphia, and she made the plans for us to join this wonderful contingent."

Buses also left from other staging areas in the city, including West Philadelphia and Roxborough; suburban spots such as Ardmore, Doylestown, and Wayne, and in Cherry Hill in South Jersey.

Lipman said one of the buses from Center City stopped in Cherry Hill to pick up four stranded Cherry Hill East students holding signs who feared they would not make it to the rally.