Moving Planet Seattle Sept. 24, 2011: Recap of the Day

On a sunny Saturday morning on September 24th, Washingtonians around the Puget Sound were abuzz with plans for attending Moving Planet Seattle.

In celebration of 350.org's annual day of action on climate change, the Sierra Club, Earth Ministry, Climate Solutions, 350 Washington, Washington Environmental Council, Transportation For Washington and many other community organizations came together to host Moving Planet Seattle. A local event in solidarity with thousands of events around the globe, Moving Planet Seattle focused on the need to end our reliance on coal and oil and take action on urgent issues facing Washington state and the Northwest, including stopping coal exports and fighting for more transportation choices.

As the day commenced, it became immediately clear - in Seattle, we are part of a powerful climate movement. Moving Planet Seattle kicked off with almost a hundred people taking action in workshops on coal and oil and continued into the afternoon with over a thousand people converging on Lake Union Park via bus, bike, on foot, on skate boards, roller skates, paddle-boards, sail boats, canoes, electric vehicles and more!

 

Photo: Parking for the hundreds who arrived by bike / Photo by Jeff Randall

Photo: People arrive to the event en masse by boat! Photo by Elise Koncsek

Washingtonians had a lot to celebrate at Moving Planet Seattle. Our state has been a leader in moving beyond fossil fuels. Elected leaders around the state continually hold President Obama accountable to the strength of his historic new fuel efficiency standards of 54.5mpg by 2025. Washingtonians have also worked hard to end our state's reliance on coal, protecting our health and the environment.

And Washingtonians will continue to stand up to Big Oil and Big Coal. The Sierra Club is involved in state-wide efforts to provide more public transit access to our communities and make our streets safer for walking and biking. The Sierra Club is also continuing its successful stand against Big Coal in a growing coalition to stop massive coal export terminals for shipping coal to china from being built along Washington's coast.

At Moving Planet Seattle, each of the feature speakers beamed with pride as they talked of these displays of Washingtonians working to move our state beyond fossil fuels - including Mayor of Seattle Mike McGinn who rode his bike to the event and spoke out against coal export terminals.

 

Photo: Mayor McGinn addressing the crowd/ Photo by Paul Anderson

After converging by boat, bike, bus and foot, attending workshops on campaigns to move beyond fossil fuels, hearing from inspirational speakers, signing postcards in support of higher fuel efficiency standards and against coal export terminals, posing for the iconic 350 photo, and listening to a compelling faith and environmental justice program - Moving Planet Seattle came to a close.

PhotoParticipants spell out 350 / Photo by Paul Anderson

But our turn to take action only started; we all know,Washingtonians deserve better!

Join the Sierra Club in the local fight for transportation reform, attend the next Transportation Committee Meeting October 25th at 6:30pm at the Sierra Club office. (For more opportunities and further details, contact Tim Gould, Transportation Committee Chair at 4cleanair@usa.net)

Or put a stop to coal exports in Washington State, attend a Washington Coal Taskforce Meeting! (For more details contact Robin Everett at robin.everett@sierraclub.org or 206-378-0114 x 308.)

Moving Planet Seattle Hosts:

• 350 Washington State
• Climate Solutions
• Earth Ministry
• Pacific Northwest Conference, UCC
• Sierra Club
• Transportation for Washington
• Washington Environmental Council

Gold Sponsors:

• Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment
• Seattle Parks & Recreation
• Seattle Department of Transportation

Silver Sponsors:

• Bishop's Committee for the Environment, Episcopal Diocese of Olympia
• Home Performance Collaborative
• Plymouth United Church of Christ
• UnDriving
• ZipCar

Bronze Sponsors:

• BikeWorks
• Cascade Bicycle Club 
• Center for Wooden Boats
• Seattle Dutch Bike Company
• Sellen
• Surf Ballard/WASUP Yoga
• Urban Surf

Community Sponsors:

•  aLIVe, CoolMom, Family Bike Expo, FeetFirst, FUSE, Maryhill Ratz, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation, NW E-Bike, NW EcoBuilding Guild, Salish Sea Trading, SCALLOPS , Skate Like a Girl, Spokespeople, Transit Riders Union, YES! Magazine, Yoga for Bikers, and many more!