A service of the Northern Neck Audubon Society---
Dear NNAS members:
On April 29, 2017, there will be a major march in Washington, DC, sponsored by
a partnership of more than 50 groups concerned about the effects of climate
change, while also focusing on the creation of good, sustainable jobs that do
not cause damage to the environment.
For those who would rather demonstrate their support for the environment closer
to home, the Northern Neck Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby will sponsor a
one-mile long “March for Climate Awareness” on April 29, 2017, in Kilmarnock,
VA.
The March for Climate Awareness will begin at the Peeble’s parking lot at 9:45
AM, and will continue to Grace Episcopal Church, but if you wish, you may join
it at the midpoint at the Lancaster Public Library. Parking will be available
at the parking lot outside Peeble’s (463 N. Main St.), at the Lancaster
Community Library (16 Town Centre Dr.), and also at Grace Episcopal Church (303
S. Main St.) if public parking on Waverly is full. Please carpool, if possible.
This is to be a family-friendly march; children and dogs on leashes are
welcome. Those who are mobility impaired or elderly can assemble at Grace
Church to be part of this event.
The Northern Neck Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) is just one of
nearly 400 CCL chapters throughout the United States. There are 21 chapters in
Virginia alone. CCL is a non-profit and strictly non-partisan advocacy
organization that focuses on national policies to address climate change. It is
important to repeat that the organization is non-partisan. As stated on the
organization’s web site: “By focusing on shared values rather than partisan
divides, we build relationships with community leaders and with federal elected
officials and with Congress, always starting from a place of respect,
gratitude, and appreciation….Through developing respectful relationships,
cultivating and demonstrating local support, and promoting a climate solution
that has appeal across the political spectrum, we move our leaders towards
action that will preserve a healthy climate and a livable world.”
One of the results of the work of CCL is the establishment of a Congressional
caucus, the Climate Solutions Caucus, which is a bipartisan group in the US
House of Representatives. The mission of the Caucus is to “explore policy
options that address the impacts, causes, and challenges of our changing
climate.” Membership in the Caucus is — and will be kept — even between
Republicans and Democrats. If a Congressman wishes to join the Caucus, he or
she must invite another from the other party to also join.
A year ago, the USGS issued a press release that said in part: “Much of the
coast from Maine to Virginia is more likely to change than to simply drown in
response to rising seas during the next 70 years or so…in ways that will
reshape coastal landscapes….70 percent of the Northeast Atlantic Coast is made
up of ecosystems that have the capacity to change over the next several decades
in response to rising seas.”
A March 27, 2017, New Yorker article by Michelle Nijhuis states: “Well more
than a hundred million people are expected to face displacement by rising seas
before the end of the century.”
There are other dire effects from climate change. For example, the Medical
Society Consortium on Climate and Health, which is an organization that brings
together associations representing 400,000 clinical practitioners, issued a
press release on March 16, 2017, that warned about negative impacts of climate
change on people’s health. A graphic from the press release showed that, in
Virginia, those impacts include illnesses caused by extreme temperatures,
outdoor air quality, extreme flooding, hurricanes, storms and/or drought,
mosquito and tick-borne infections, water-related infection, and mental health
and well-being.
The effects of climate change on our beautiful Northern Neck will affect all
who live here, regardless of their political affiliations. The Northern Neck
chapter of CCL seeks to keep the residents of our region informed about, and
engaged in, efforts to mitigate those effects, and invites all who share these
concerns to show their support by joining in the March for Climate Awareness on
Saturday, April 29.
For more information, please see
https://www.facebook.com/events/1654355044860084/ or email Bette Gruben ;
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