When I reported on the presentation By Bill McKibben on Sept 13th, he stated he would be back in California to attend the Moving Planet march and rally in San Francisco on Saturday September 24th, 2011, and I told our readers that I would cover this event. 

“Moving Planet is a day to put our demands for climate action into motion—marching, biking, skating—calling for the world to go beyond fossil fuels. At over 2000 events in 175+ countries, we’re letting leaders know that a movement is rising to move our planet forward to a clean energy future. ”

The event began at  at Justin Herman Plaza. When I arrived there were a number of people in hard hats and orange shirts unfurling a huge earth banner on linen. They were from  Sungevity, a residential solar panel installer.  A few minutes later people began to que up for a march down market street. and terminating in front of San Francisco City Hall.  About half way through the march while taking pictures of the front of the parade I looked behind me and saw one man walking down the middle of Market street toward the march.  Bill McKibben had arrived.

At the Powell street BART station the march was joined by a large contingent from the Sierra Club. They then added their banner to the front of the march.

A few minutes later all the marchers arrived at their destination,  the plaza in front of City Hall.A large solar powered stage was set up and folks began to hear from a long list of speakers beginning with two quick introductions  from supporting women’s, organizations, and San Francisco Supervisor, Ross Mirkarimi, who talked about how San Francisco became the first city in the world to ban plastic bags.   Then we heard from State Assembly Man – Mark Leno discussing the  Community Choice Aggregation plan to put clean power in the hands of the people, and he urged Governor Brown to pass AB 684, a bill that would  allow farmers to grow industrial hemp.

Sierra Club Director Michael Brune talked about the importance of SB 375, a proposed California law requiring  California’s Air Resources Board  to organize  the creation of regional plans to reduce emissions from vehicle use throughout the state. Here follows his presentation:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzSQ8DsuyQs&feature=related

Then Bill McKibben,  350.org’s founder, spoke. You may view his speech at this link:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA-ie-LI52k&feature=related

Let me leave you with Bill McKibben’s indroduction to the reason for organizing these 2000+ events around the world”

“On 24 September we’ll be figuring out the most meaningful ways to make the climate message move, literally. We’ll show that we can use our hands, our feet, and our hearts to spur real change. In many places, people will ride bicycles, one of the few tools used by both affluent and poor people around the world. Other places people will be marching, dancing, running, or kayaking, or skateboarding. Imagine the spectacle: thousands of people encircling national capitals, state houses, city halls.


“But we won’t just be cycling or marching–we’ll also be delivering a strong set of demands that can have real political impact. They’ll differ from one country to the next, of course, because the steps we need to take depend on how much fossil fuel we already use…

Our friends in Tunisia, Egypt, and throughout the Middle East have proven that change can come quickly. The greatest achievements have been without violence, but not without sacrifice. They’ve done it with bravery, and also good humor; with the internet and also with face-to-face organizing. They’ve got things unstuck in countries that seemed rusted shut. They’re our inspiration for the months ahead.”



For more photos of this event 

Greg Harder reporting for Bay Area PNC