Friends,
We knew Moving Planet would move–we just didn’t know how fast.
It feels like it’s going 133.3 kilometers per hour (which happens to be the fastest speed ever recorded on a bicycle). In the week since we launched this global day of action, we’ve already heard from hundreds of organizers in every corner of the planet who are making plans for September 24.
Wherever you happen to be, you can help build momentum for this big day to move beyond fossil fuels:
A few previews from organizers around the world:
In Wellington, New Zealand, parades will converge from every point of the compass onto the city’s waterfront–some will be bike parades, others will feature roller-skaters or kayakers or boaters or swimmers. And they’ll all be moving together with their demands for real renewable energy solutions.
Sao Paolo, in Brazil, is planning a huge bike action that takes over the streets. That city is so crowded with cars that it holds the dubious distinction of having more helicopters than any place on earth–that’s how the rich get around. On the big day, thousands of regular folks will converge on the Minhocao thoroughfare, a giant road notorious for having been built without a bike lane or sidewalk, preventing cyclists and pedestrians from getting around. But not on Sept 24!
In Papua New Guinea, the “moving” will be from the larger villages inland into the forest in a “symbolic gesture to hold on to the forest for future generations.” Our friends at the Center for Environmental Law and Community Rights are taking the lead on organizing hundreds of young people for this powerful event.
You can check out some more event ideas here — they will give you inspiration for figuring out what to do in your hometown, or on your campus, or in your neighborhood. Any kind of movement is good: wheels, feet, boards–whatever you can dream up that isn’t powered by fossil fuel. We’ve already heard from Dominicans who will be on skateboards, and Vermonters who will be on horseback.
We’re aiming for big gatherings, though of course the meaning of “big” depends on where you live. In a dozen or so huge cities around the world we will have huge actions. If you live near those locations we will be contacting you soon with more details.
And we’re aiming for real, sharp, powerful political actions. Being on a bike illustrates one solution we badly need, but it also gives you a chance to deliver demands. Imagine what your state capitol or city hall would look like ringed by a thousand bikes. Around the world we will be unified by our demands for the global action necessary to get us back to 350, but in every province and city and state people will also be making the specific demands for the kind of local work that needs to get done now.
Nothing gets solved in a day–but we’re never going to win this fight if we don’t show the global solidarity that starts to get the message across to our politicians: you may be stuck, but we’re in motion. If you want to lead, you better catch up.
This day can be amazing–but only if people around the world come together to make it happen. Let’s build something incredible on September 24th: www.moving-planet.org
Onwards,
Bill McKibben
P.S. Check out this dispatch that just arrived from Cairo, where youth organizers are blazing a trail for us all to follow. Sarah, a young activist quoted in it, is leading the plans for Egypt on Sept. 24–and it’s going to be huge!
P.P.S. Have friends that don’t yet know about Moving Planet? Share it with just a couple of clicks on Twitter and Facebook.
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350.org is building a global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis. Our online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions are led from the bottom up by thousands of volunteer organizers in over 188 countries.
What is 350? 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Scientists measure carbon dioxide in “parts per million” (PPM), so 350ppm is the number humanity needs to get below as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change. To get there, we need a different kind of PPM—a “people powered movement” that is made of people like you in every corner of the planet.