April 29, 2017 – What a too-hot-for-the-season People’s Climate March we had today in Washington, DC, where climate change was on display all afternoon! With so many people sweating and trying to stay hydrated, it was hard to believe this was a day in late April. It felt more like mid-July.

That’s been happening a lot lately, and that was the whole point behind today’s march – that climate change is real, it is caused in no small part by humans, of which there are approximately 7.5 billion now on the planet…in 1970, it was 3.7 billion.

The subject of human population is more important than ever, and it’s among the least talked-about things in popular or political parlance. I find it shocking that humans are still permitted – or even freely volunteer – to reproduce at the rates we do, without so much as a thought for the very environment that supports all things living. And then there’s the cost of raising a child, which in the US as of 2017, was $233,610.

I often think that if the high school sex education conversation included the real environmental impact of another baby on the already environmentally stressed on the world, we’d see yet another drop in pregnancies on top of all the successes in that direction under the Obama administration.

An excerpt from the Guardian article, “Want to fight climate change? Have fewer children,” says this:

The researchers found that government advice in the US, Canada, EU and Australia rarely mentioned the high impact actions, with only the EU citing eating less meat and only Australia citing living without a car. None mentioned having one fewer child. In an analysis of school textbooks on Canada only 4% of the recommendations were high impact.

So, considering this level of denial – and it goes on worldwide – how can we change the conversation? One way is to put a bumper sticker on your car, saying something to the effect, “Hate Traffic? Have Fewer Children.” It will apply every single time you’re in a tie-up, and I’m sure it will get some to think…and perhaps make a few traffic lovers very, very angry.

Another way is reading…and discussing books that deal with sustainability and population issues with others.

I’m with him…and wouldn’t you know it, there was a makeshift bookstand, right smack in the middle of the Mall, with many titles worth getting into. So, yes, dude-with-cool-sign, you can protest and read, too…

…and note the book near the middle, titled appropriately, “Too Many People?”

In an overpopulated world, it’s good to know I am not totally alone.

My mind spinning on all things population as I made my way through the thick crowd, I soon found my group, thanks to the the well-organized People’s Climate March map of where various types of groups were gathering. As I made my way to the Sierra Club contingent on Jefferson, I saw this:

This was right behind where Green America and Sierra Club were gathering…and doesn’t it just have Ben & Jerry’s written all over it? 😉

I’ve been a member of SC for a few years, as it meets the requirements for my investment and involvement: 1) Strong litigation capabilities, 2) Solid infrastructure for individual citizen action, and 3) Fun! But not just any sort of fun – there are groups in every state going out to preserve, protect and enjoy the planet, from hikes in local parks to (hopefully sustainable) group trips around the world.

Finally, the March started, and as we were rounding the corner from Independence onto Pennsylvania avenue, I turned around and saw this person, in costume and on stilts. Just stunning!

But it wasn’t long before I saw him, the Hottest Guy at the DC People’s Climate March, wearing a polar bear suit on a 92-degrees Fahrenheit late April day:

At least he had the sense to take off the top portion of his costume and breathe…and that was when I realized, yep, HE WAS TOTALLY HOT!!

LOL…but this little girl or guy wasn’t so lucky…s(he) was kinda stuck with the condition known as Permanent (Cute) Furry Head.

…but, s(he) had a message:

And, aren’t we all??? Don’t we all deserve policies that help us avoid the cancer, avoid the diabetes, avoid all the sickness brought about by overpopulation and pollution and their damage to our one and only climate?

It was just more proof that the dogs already know the secrets of the universe! I don’t see them picketing women’s clinics, or insisting that Dog/God hates gays, do you?

Next, the obligatory photo marching up Pennsylvania with the Capitol in the background…

…where an impromptu sit-in happened:

After that, the March marched on, and on until we got to the Washington Monument, the White House, or wherever your activist feet took you.

Along the way, I noted something very disappointing, and so here’s a reminder: Please make your signs with recycling in mind. I saw a lot of them simply dumped on sidewalks and streets (not even at Lafayette Park), forcing DC sanitation workers to gather and stuff them into trash cans. We’re supposed to be the good guys, right? Standing for environmental cleanliness and all? I’m all for leaving things better then we found them…

And speaking of signs, I’ll finish off with what I thought were two of the most clever signs…there’s something truly magical about a whole new word that really just says it all:

And this next one says it all, in a very familiar word: DENIAL. Those living along the coasts might do well to invest in a costume like this one:

Hopefully we’ll get our act together, throwing out all present and future Trumps, realizing that if we don’t, it is us who will be sidelined with not only rising seas from climate change, but cancer from the pollution that causes it.

In my case, it’s not “will be sidelined” – it’s “have been.”

Think…and be well,
Alison