Step It Up climate action reports and amazing pix at stepitup07.org

Well, today is it, the National Day of Climate Action!  Three months of organizing by Bill McKibben, his crew of six Middlebury College grads, and folks all over the country is culminating today in over 1400 actions.  The photos and action reports are streaming in, and a slide show with some of the first pix is scrolling across the screen at the Step It Up site.  You can see red-shirted bodies spelling out Step It Up in New Orleans; Middlebury College students spelling it out with flashlights just after midnight this morning; scuba divers with a banner underwater off Key West; bike rallies; kids making colorful banners; contra dance-based activism in Maine; and more.  

The best will be tonight at 8:00, when McKibben and friends put on a live webcast of the day's events.  Just tune into the same site!

Please use the comments to share reports of your action!  Here's ours:

A diverse group of Atlantans stepped it up on the Morehouse College campus, with a rally in front of the Martin Luther King Chapel that included an amazing performance by the national champion step team from Morehouse.  Speakers emphasized the disproportionate impact of climate change on poor and minority communities, and the importance of public support on what politicians can feel comfortable in voting for.  Our day also included an electric car show plus workshops on climate change and social justice; reducing energy use; local transit issues; and an interfaith response to climate change.  The most memorable quote of the day was perhaps this: "I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist.  I’m an activist because it’s our actions that change things."  

•  thank you for posting ...

  I was in Arlington, facing DC. Some great people. Old friends, new ones.

  For a DC area rally, not huge, but far from the only event.  Hope some of the photos make the site.

  by A Siegel on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 03:36:12 PM PDT

•  well, in nyc we had a bright sunny day

  and an enthusiastic turn out.  i'm not great at estimating but i figure around 2,000 comprised of all age groups and ethnicities with a few dogs thrown in.  we gathered in battery park around noon time all dressed in blue - some rather festively.  my favorite was the roller blader who was draped head to toe with an assortment of recyclable trash bags. others sported blue wigs, boas, sheets painted like waves, and luna, the dog, was outfitted with a blue cape and a shark's fin (really wish i had a photo of her).  for the less creative there was face painting - thanks to a couple of codepink ladies who volunteered to do face painting, i still have a blue fish on my cheek.  

  most impressive was the line up of speakers, ranging from bill mckibben himself to the most articulate and committed twelve-year old i've ever encountered (rico bautista, i believe).  bill mckibben drew cheers when he pointed out that there were 1400 events happening throughout the country!  new york politicians could have been better represented - no schumer no hillary (not suprised) - but congressman anthony weiner made an impressive, impassioned, and well-informed presentation.  

  musical entertainment was provided by reverend billy and his choir who donned blue robes and warmed up the crowd before the speakers.  the spirited m.c. haysoos kept the program on track and after the speakers separated the crowd into two sections and sent it off to parade behind himalyayn bands.  following the lead of himalayan bands, who kept everyone within hearing dancing, the two parades snaked their way through canyons on the east and west sides of lower manhattan   demarcating the waterline that will be lower manhattan if we don't STEP IT UP and reduce CO2 emissions by 80% before 2050.  

  once in place, the line of paraders stretching from battery park to points north in the west and the east, a giant wave was sent from one end to the other and back.  the organizers had photographers planted on roof tops along the parade route and i am looking forward to seeing if their photos captured the exhuberance of the crowd and the wave.  

  i highly commend the organizers for pulling off a successful heart-warming and consciousness-raising event.  it was great to see involvement and bonding by people of all ages - and smiles all around.  i spent most of my time with a couple a few years older than i who also volunteered (we were buouies guiding the sea of blue) and we met all kinds of folks who were handing out educational material.  and on the way home, i rode the subway with a mom, her daughter, and the daughter's friend who felt they had learned a lot and become even more committed to preserving the environment.  i was happy to hear that they had long ago sold their suv (after only owning it for 1 year) when confronted by an environmentalist friend.  after the many blank looks i receive from friends and family who continue to drive them, it is encouraging to know that some people do listen and do want to make a difference.

  last, but hardly least, there looked to be a good turnout of the press.  the organizers were on a morning tv show on friday (not sure which one) and today i saw video crews and was even interviewed by an AP reporter.  if they were listening to the speakers and captured the wave travel from the west to the east of lower manhattan, we should receive coverage we will reach that many more people.  

  i hope all of the 1400 events happening today were as  successful and attended by enthusiastic crowd of concerned and committed environmentalists. together we can make a difference.

  by conchita on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 03:45:25 PM PDT

•  Though I didn't attend any event, my husband

  and I purchased CFLs in large quanities for our business and our home today.  So, action is the key, IMHO!

  And AL GORE 2008 is our only hope!!!

  by Little Lulu on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 03:47:44 PM PDT

  •  PG & E offers discounts & rebates on

    some CFLs in my area, so I got most of my current supply at probably the same or less cost than standard bulbs.  For those people who say they won't replace regular bulbs because they think the price of CFLs is too high, I want to ask how much they spend on coffee drinks and meals out per week?  
     I'm considering buying carbon "offsets" for my car ( the fee goes to fund alternative energy projects) -
     http://www.terrapass.com/...

    by FoundingFatherDAR on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 04:13:47 PM PDT

    •  The savings in energy costs with CFLs adds up so

      quickly, it's mind boggling!  The LA TIMES did a cost comparison over a year and you save so much per bulb per year in energy with the CFLs, it's not even close.

      by Little Lulu on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 04:21:53 PM PDT

•  great! ok. i got no anecdotal. who cares?

  in MSM, i know newshour has incorporated Step It Up demonstrations HTML, "
  Author Promotes Lifestyle Changes in Global Warming Fight" (April 13, 2007), featuring their mckibben interview audio in its "in-depth" series on US global climate change management.

  THANK you for your effort, liz. jerome also has been promoting Step It Up here and here.

  but US bills and legislation are rarely mentioned. for background, pls see State of Home Efficiency and netguyct's action alert on S.309.

  we've got to tie legislator's to the "action plans".

  by MarketTrustee on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 04:02:05 PM PDT

•  Somerville and Boston

  In Somerville--it was great--there were too many people to fit in the photo space they planned!  Here is the dancing whale, who was up there workin' the moves to some great jazz:

  Then many of us took the T into the city.

  
  On the Boston Common there was another huge group.  I know you can't see it, but on the dais is Kevin Knobloch who is the President of the Union of Concerned Scientists, with Ed Markey--who is leading the house special committee on climate change and energy.  

  I am so happy to have seen so many other people who care about this.  Gives me hope.

  by mem from somerville on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 04:51:17 PM PDT