Rise for Climate

Rise for Climate is a global event that occurred on September 8, 2018, where hundreds of thousands rallied and marched in hundreds of cities around the world.  The purpose was to demand that local leaders commit to building a fossil free world that puts people and justice before profits. The event is in advance of next week’s Global Climate Action Summit, where cities, states, businesses and civil society from around the world gather in California to affirm their commitment to a fossil-free society.

I am proud to say that Debbie and I took part. Whereas last year we marched on Washington as part of the People’s Climate March, this time we stayed local. The Cleveland chapter of the Sierra Club along with several other local organizations put together a unique ‘Environmental Justice Tour’ of the city.

There is no environmental justice without social justice. People's Climate Movement event will be Saturday September 8th and will be hosted by the Cleveland People's Climate Movement. This event will run from 10am to 2pm. This year we will be focusing on environmental justice in Cleveland. We will be taking a tour bus around the city to see the triumphs and shortcomings of Cleveland's current environmental state as well as speaking about the effects this has on resident's health. The tour will include stops such as the site of the Icebreaker Wind Project, East Cleveland Dump site, Chateau De Hough Wine Vineyard, Brooklyn Solar Farm, Rid-All Community Farm & CMHA Lakeview Terrace. After the tour, lunch will be provided and we will facilitate a community dialogue on climate change/clean energy. This is a free event open to the public. Please come learn with us on how we can convert Cleveland to a 100% sustainable city!

Compared with the hundreds of thousands at last year’s march, this event was small. Still, it was illuminating to naïve folks like us two. We live our comfortable lives in the suburbs, hardly even thinking about health and environmental concerns that our neighbors to the north have to deal with on a regular basis.

We began with a press conference at MetroHealth Park, where speakers included MetroHealth doctors who informed us of environmental effects on the health and well-being of Cleveland city residents. We also heard from members of various organizations, such as the Sierra Club, and their efforts to convince Cleveland to commit to becoming a 100% sustainable city.

The speeches were followed by a bus tour of some sites in Cleveland where the environment is front and center in its effects on people’s lives. The stops included:

The Lake Erie shoreline near Gordon Park: We heard the latest information about the Icebreaker Wind Project. If approved, eight large wind turbines will be installed several miles offshore, in the lake. It would be the first such freshwater site in the Americas and could lead to more and larger such projects. Although only one further approval is needed for the permit, there is still opposition. Two Bratenahl residents, financed by none other than Robert Murray, president of Murray Energy, the country’s largest privately held coal company are fighting the project to the end.

Chateau De Hough Wine Vineyard and Harry Boomer Garden: It was interesting to see a successful winery in an inner city neighborhood. Just around the corner is a peaceful flower garden.

East Cleveland Dumpsite: This was shocking to us. East Cleveland city officials sold land to a developer who promised to recycle materials in an environmentally clean manner. Instead, it became a toxic waste dump site where trash became piled up dozens of feet high. Residents were exposed to noxious fumes all hours of day and night. The combustible refuse eventually caught fire, placing local people in even more immediate danger. After several years of effort as well as harassment and provocation from the owners and truck drivers, the residents managed to prevail and convince the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to do its job and have the site cleaned. It was the first we’d heard of the entire incident.

The whole day left me, and I think Debbie, feeling like we must work harder to secure an environmentally clean future for our children and grandchildren. I promise to do more.