Tufts students and Boston residents alike demonstrated in full force on Saturday in honor of the International Day of Climate Action, advocating the need for increased environmental awareness.
Tufts celebrated with a Global Day of Climate Action rally held outside of the campus center, where student speakers urged their fellow Jumbos to realize their impact on the environment. A second, bigger demonstration, the Boston Under Water 350 Festival, took place later in the afternoon in Boston's Christopher Columbus Park on the waterfront.
At Tufts, students urged their fellow Jumbos to work actively to lessen their environmental footprint.
"The whole point is to realize that you are just sitting on your own potential," said senior Dallase Scott, a graduate student in Tufts' Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning (UEP) program. "Some people just need to be shown the way."
In addition to Scott, senior Daniel Enking from Tufts Energy forum and junior Sally Sharrow, a member of Tufts Environmental Consciousness Outreach and Mass Power Shift, a college-led group focused on finding sustainable climate solutions, spoke.
The Tufts percussion group B.E.A.T.S. performed and a representative from the Bikes Not Bombs bicycle shop was also in attendance, sporting a bike-powered blender and allowing passers-by to hop on the bike and mix up their own smoothies as a way to conserve energy.
Meanwhile, in Boston, environmental advocates delivered an international call to political action. The Boston Under Water 350 Festival was directed specifically at Bostonians, highlighting that a rise in sea level could one day put their city underwater if no further action is taken to mitigate climate change.
The event featured water-themed activities like canoe relay racing as well as group singing and theatre. All attendees gathered together at around 4 p.m. to take a photo — in line with similar events held around the world — as a visual form of demonstration to President Obama and his administration.
"President Obama needs to do what's scientifically needed and not politically easy," said David Pomerantz (A '07), a field organizer for Greenpeace in Somerville and one of the main organizers of the 350 festival in Boston. "I voted for him, but he's not fulfilling his promises."
350.org, one of the principal organizers of the Boston festivities, is a worldwide campaign to urge global leaders to take increased environmental action. The U.S. campaign in particular emphasizes the need for Obama to help form an international climate treaty at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen in December.
350 is the number of parts per million that scientists say represents the upper limits of carbon that can be in the atmosphere, Pomerantz explained.
"We're doing things to our planet that's going to make it impossible for us and our kids to have a safe planet," Pomerantz said. "The most important thing people can do is take political action."
Pomerantz added that big oil and coal lobbies play a large role in preventing further climate change action. He said festivities hosted during the internationally-recognized day serve to stunt their influence.
"Events like this are our weapon against that," he said.
Elizabeth Mahaffy, a UEP graduate student and organizer of the Tufts event, said that about 50 people turned out at the campus center despite the rain. She would have liked to see a bigger turn out, but said it was the bigger, international movement that was most important.
According to the 350.org Web site, 181 countries demonstrated on Saturday.
"It's ok that we don't have 500 people here," Mahaffy said. "This is one of almost 5,000 other actions around the world."
Mahaffy emphasized the importance of political action in the fight for climate change. "Personal actions are good but it's not enough," she said. "We need the systems to change."
Jeanette Rebecchi, another UEP graduate student who attended the event, said that Tufts' climate change groups could benefit from further collaboration. "There's a lot to get involved in here, but it's pretty fractured," she said.
Madeline Serpe, a Massachusetts resident and current Greenpeace intern who attended Boston's 350 event, said she thought there was a great turnout at Boston's waterfront.
"Copenhagen is coming up soon," Serpe said, referring to the international summit in December. "And we need to do what we can."
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Dallase Scott's quotation was originally misattributed to Sally Sharrow. This was corrected on 10/26/09.
