100 Dedicated Activists Rose for Climate, Jobs, and Justice in Columbus

On September 8, 2018, climate and environmental activists in Central Ohio held two events to mark Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice in Ohio: a march and rally downtown, and a listening session in a low-income neighborhood. The two events were the culmination of months of planning among a core planning team of 10 people with the collaboration of almost 20 community organizations.

 

The Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice march and rally began at 10 a.m. at the Ohio Statehouse, with several speakers MC'd  by Glen Skeen, vice president of CWA Local 4320. Speakers included Shelly Corbin, member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and chair of the Sierra Club Ohio Chapter Beyond Dirty Fossil Fuels and Pipeline campaign. Also speaking was Sandy Bolzenius of Move to Amend which is seeking to get money out of politics. Pastor Terry Stephens of Manifestation Church was slated to speak here but ended up speaking at our next stop.

 

The march then moved to the plaza in front of Sen. Rob Portman's office in Columbus, where we held an action called "The Crime of Climate change" In an area surrounded by crime scene tape, volunteers read statements about various issues on which Portman, a Republican elected with millions of dollars from the Koch brothers, has voted the wrong way. Then they said "Rob Portman, you are sucking the life out of the earth!" and  popped a large Earth balloons while characters dressed as Mother Nature and the Mr. Moneybags Monopoly Man looked on. No balloons were released, and we picked up the remains before moving on. 

 

 

Finally, the action moved across the street to the plaza in front of City Hall, where we heard from various speakers including Emmanuel Remy, Columbus city council member in charge of the Environment Committee; Carolyn Harding, chair of the Columbus Community Bill of Rights, which seeks to put a measure on the city ballot banning fracking and frack waste in Central Ohio; Cathy Cowan Becker, chair of the Ready for 100 campaign in Columbus; and Liliana Castillo Baiman of Central Ohio Workers Center. The City Hall portion of the event was MC'd by Rev. Susan Smith, director of the Ohio Poor People's Campaign.

 

After the speakers, we heard two songs from the Vocal Resistance Choir, while people signed the Ready for 100 AddUp petition and circulated voter registration forms. Throughout the event, it was pouring rain, the remnants of a hurricane that had hit the Gulf Coast a few days previous -- a fitting setting for a climate rally. Despite the rain, almost 100 dedicated Columbus activists turned out to march and rally for climate, jobs and justice.

 

Besides the large event downtown, Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice also included a listening session on energy and health at St. Stephens Community Center in the Linden neighborhood of Columbus. Linden is one of six low-income areas identified by the recent Franklin County Energy Study has having an unacceptably high energy burden, and we wanted to see what people who are dealing with this think. Also attending were two utilities in Central Ohio -- AEP and Columbia Gas -- which offer a range of programs to provide energy efficiency and weatherization upgrades for low-income households. We plan to do more of these listening sessions in the coming year.

 

We have some great photos of the march and rally by Paul Becker.  We also did livestreams of the balloon action in front of Portman's office and the choir singing in front of City Hall.