Indianola groups to participate in Climate Crisis Parade

Indianola Advocate Excerpt:  The Indianola Green Team plans to participate in the Climate Crisis Parade on Saturday, Feb. 1, at noon in Des Moines. The group will join more than 70 organizations who will meet at Cowles Commons at 4th and Locust parading to the Iowa Events Center.

This is a record number of sponsors for any Iowa action, at least since Iowans marched in solidarity with Martin Luther King, Jr., and the civil rights movement more than 50 years ago. 

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By Staff Writer/Press Release
Indianola, Iowa, January 29th, 2020

The Indianola Green Team plans to participate in the Climate Crisis Parade on Saturday, Feb. 1, at noon in Des Moines. The group will join more than 70 organizations who will meet at Cowles Commons at 4th and Locust parading to the Iowa Events Center.

This is a record number of sponsors for any Iowa action, at least since Iowans marched in solidarity with Martin Luther King, Jr., and the civil rights movement more than 50 years ago. Over 1,000 participants are expected.

In addition to raising public awareness of the rapidly emerging climate crisis, the parade’s “We challenge YOU!…” message will be directed at the hundreds of members of the world’s press assembled in Des Moines to cover Monday’s caucuses.

Kathy Byrnes, one the event’s organizers, explains, “The press does a good job covering the consequences of climate change – increasingly catastrophic floods, droughts, fires, etc. – but too often fails to emphasize the scientifically established fact that these disasters are either directly caused or exacerbated by human-induced climate change.”

According to Byrnes, the public deserves the whole story. “Just as the media had a responsibility to tell the world that skyrocketing lung cancer rates were being caused by smoking, it has a duty to tell the world that climate change, caused by human activity, is driving these deadly and financially devastating events. This is the central purpose of our parade.”

Parade participants will gather at noon at the northwest corner of Cowles Commons in Des Moines. Individuals and organizations interested in participating in the Climate Crisis Parade may visit the Facebook event via #ClimateCrisisParade, RSVP on Eventbrite, or call (858) 356-2724.

Organizational members of the coalition as of today are:

100 Grannies for a Livable Future, Ames Climate Action Team, Ames United Church of Christ, Bold Iowa, Boundary Waters Action Fund, Care of Creation Group (Cathedral Church of St. Paul), Catholic Peace Ministry, Central College SCATE (Students Concerned About The Environment), Central District United Methodist Women, Citizens’ Climate Lobby (Des Moines), Citizens’ Climate Lobby (Iowa City), Citizens’ Climate Lobby (Mason City), Climate Action Iowa, Climate March, Climate Reality Project (Des Moines Chapter), Creative Visions, Des Moines Faith Committee for Peace, Des Moines Intentional Eucharistic Community (Social Justice Committee), Des Moines Order of the Sacred Earth, Des Moines Valley Friends (Quaker), Downtown Disciples, Drake Environmental Action League, Environment Iowa, Farmers & Ranchers for a Green New Deal, First Unitarian Church of Des Moines, Green Boat Team (Urbandale UCC), Greenpeace, Homes 4 My Peeps, Indianola Green Team, Indigenous Iowa, Interfaith Green Coalition, Iowa Climate Strike, Iowa Interfaith Power and Light, ISU Theatre – Eco-Theatre Lab, Latinx Immigrants of Iowa, League of United Latin American Citizens (Council 307), League of Women Voters (Ames), LENA Project, Methodist Federation for Social Action (Iowa Chapter), Millennials for Climate, Moms Clean Air Force, NAACP (Des Moines), National Wildlife Federation, NextGen Iowa, Occupy the World Food Prize, Organic Consumers Association, Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart Catholic Church of Ankeny, Oxfam, Physicians for Social Responsibility (Iowa), Physicians for Social Responsibility (US), Plymouth Church Creation Care and Justice Coalition, Progressive Action for the Common Good’s Environmental Forum, Regeneration International, Sage Sisters, Seeding Sovereignty, Simpson College, STAR*PAC, Student Climate Strike (Iowa City), Sunrise Movement, Swap Society, The Collective, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities, Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City, United Methodist Trinity Las Americas – the Earth Guardians, University of Iowa Environmental Coalition, Urban Ambassadors, VegLife, Vote Mob, Voto Latino, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (Des Moines Branch)