Climate activists march on Sonoma Plaza

Local climate change activists took to the streets of Sonoma this weekend, when nearly 120 county residents marched on the Plaza Sunday to raise awareness about the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

The Climate Change Conference, also known as the 21st Conference of the Parties, is launching in Paris this week; the Sonoma march was sponsored by the Earth Care Committee of First Congregational Church and Transition Sonoma Valley, and held in conjunction with similar events worldwide.

According to a TSV statement following the march, “Previous attempts by world leaders to reach binding accords to reduce greenhouse gases around the world (Kyoto, Japan in 1987 and Copenhagen in 2009) failed to achieve significant action by world governments.”

Climate activists are particularly critical of the U.S. Senate’s failure to ratify the Kyoto protocols, which would aim to sharply reduce greenhouse gases in the coming decades.

Added Transition Sonoma Valley officials: “Because of changing attitudes among the majority of world citizens and leaders who are witnessing such climate-change impacts as extreme weather patterns, relentless droughts, and wide-spread glacial ice melt, many environmentalists agree that Paris finally offers a real chance for world leaders to agree to significant, international accords for thwarting human-caused climate change.”

The statement cites a New York Times / CBS News poll in which two-thirds of Americans indicated they favor the U.S. joining in an internationally binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gases, such as Kyoto.

For more information on Transition Sonoma Valley, email editor@transitionsonomavalley.org.