On Saturday, April 14, groups gathered all around the country to urge congress to "Step It Up" and cut carbon emissions 80% by 2050. Here in Maine, we were lucky enough to have one nice, springy day before the big storm set in on Sunday, and students and townies alike turned out for the Bowdoin-organized "Polar Bear Action" rally, complete with free T-shirts, cake, and Congressman Tom Allen. (The Bowdoin College polar bear was present as well, of course; as far as I know, it does not have a website.)
Our rally was one of Maine's largest, with 450 people gathering to hear the speakers, eat the cake, and have a group photo taken. Many joined the march (or "activist stroll") afterward. It's hard to see from this picture, but the line of people extends across the mall all the way to Danny's Hot Dogs (the distant white box directly to the right of the leftmost marcher in this photo). A side note: this could easily be the line for Danny's Hot Dogs, were it a Saturday afternoon in mid-July rather than mid-April.
Some of the students had made a large banner which read
"STEP IT UP CONGRESS: CUT CO2 80% BY 2050"
As you can see, I was near the front of the line (along with my father). We actually ended up in a photo on the Step It Up page, though we're kind of hard to see...
A lot of people dressed up for this... along with the polar bear mascot, there were a couple of cans and a superhero called "Captain Kilowatt" (not pictured). All in all, it was a great day, and I had a lot of fun doing Good Things. Woo!
About Step It Up 2007
More About This Event
