How One Woman Is Walking Across the Country to Prevent Climate Change

EDITORIAL NOTE: This guest blog post was written by Kathe Thompson, League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County.

It's amazing what you see and think about when you're taking a 3,000 mile walk! Waste, trash, overuse, misuse, brown desert, blooming desert, Colorado River, dry washes, trucks and trains, and more trucks, wind farms and solar arrays – these are just some of the sights I’ve seen as a marcher on The Great March for Climate Action. With the support of my local League, the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County and the Florida state League, I’m walking across the country to inspire action to resolve the climate crisis. As a marcher I’m hoping to bring attention to the need for action in my home state of Florida, as well as across our country and around the globe.

On March 1, 235 activists began walking east from Los Angeles; in November we will finish our journey in Washington, DC. The marchers hail from 36 states and six countries. Everyone comes from a different place: A woman fighting to save the pristine desert eco-system, a man planting acres of mesquite trees to produce nutritious mesquite flour in the middle of nowhere; a small jojoba production company fighting a big power company that wants its land and the aquifer below it. Everyone along for this journey is taking grassroots actions to fight for environmental justice and a sustainable world for themselves and future generations.

How do we support and emulate these heroes in our own sphere of influence? We need personal and community willingness to make intentional choices "for" the environment, an understanding of the risks to our very way of life tied to “doing business as usual” in a carbon-based culture, and a readiness to work with purpose with our brothers and sisters around the globe on the issues that affect the very fabric and future of every person on the earth.

Along the route, we’re talking to the media about the need to focus on climate change issues, and we’re hearing from people who have struggled with extreme weather in its many forms, including drought, fire and flood. We’re hearing stories about innovative ways to adapt to the climate changes impacting their communities and states, and I’m sharing what the Florida League is doing to rouse our elected officials to action on environmental issues.

You can follow my journey or join me anywhere along the route for a day, a week or come to DC on November 1 and support the final days of our journey. This Earth Day, attend or create an environmental activity in your own community. Climate Change is a priority issue for the League and Leagues across the country are working to defend and protect our environment in a variety of ways.

Follow the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County on Facebook and Twitter.

Follow Kathe's journey on Facebook.