Around 40 AU students joined a crowd of approximately 35,000 people on Feb. 17 for the “Forward on Climate” rally on the National Mall to urge President Barack Obama to reject the Keystone XL Pipeline and combat climate change.
Students from Eco-Sense, Fossil Free AU, Green Eagles, Community Alliance for Social Justice (CASJ) and AU College Democrats were all in attendance.
“I was really inspired by it [the rally],” Stephen Bronskill, a senior in the School of Public Affairs and the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as a member of both Fossil Free AU and Eco-Sense, said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as energetic and exciting, and with so many AU students engaged as well.”
The rally featured speeches from activists, politicians and other public figures, including environmental activist and 350.org founder Bill McKibben, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and actress Rosario Dawson all addressed the crowd.
The gathering later took the protest to the streets, marching on Constitution Avenue before turning onto 17th Street heading north and right again onto Pennsylvania Avenue to protest in front of the White House.
Despite being the subject of multiple crowd chants and speaker remarks, Obama was not actually in the building. He spent the holiday weekend in Florida, according to the Associated Press.
Some attendees hope that the enthusiasm from “Forward on Climate” will translate to success in the student effort at AU to divest from fossil fuels.
“I would say the rally was a game-changer for Obama,” Katherin Sibel, an intern for the Sierra Club and a sophomore in the School of International Service and College of Arts and Sciences, said. “Just seeing the passion of everyone that was at that rally, I think, definitely will make this decision very difficult because there is a lot at stake.”
dmitchell@theeagleonline.com
