The city of Delaware’s first-ever climate march will take place Saturday.
Local organizers, the Delaware chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby and Sustainable Delaware, invite the public to participate in the Heart of Ohio March for Climate. The marchers will gather at the Bicentennial Park at 9:45 to 10 a.m. and march to the Delaware County Courthouse, where a rally and program will be held from 11 a.m. to noon.
John Krieger is among the 26 members of the Delaware CCL. He said the markets are shifting toward renewable energy.
“We’re not moving quickly enough,” he said because the effects of greenhouse gasses, such as carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere linger for decades.
The political nonprofit organization supports a carbon fee and dividend, which would tax companies that extract fossil fuels from the source and refund most of that money, except for an administration fee, to American households. Major corporations such Exxon support the fee, Krieger said.
CCL will have its annual convention in Washington, D.C. on June 12 with more than 1,000 participants from around the world. About 900 citizen lobbyists will meet with staff from nearly every member of Congress to promote the fee and dividend the following day.
“We’ve been working on this issue for seven years,” he said.
The event on Saturday is a companion march to one on that day in Washington, D.C., and more than 250 Sister Marches across the country and around the world. At the Delaware march, Krieger said organizers will collect signatures of cards with a message about climate change and renewable energy to be hand-delivered to Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa.
“It’s about climate, health and jobs,” Krieger said, because renewable energy would require infrastructure to harness solar and wind power.
“It takes people to build wind turbines, to build solar panels,” he said. “… These are good high-paying jobs.”
Krieger said the election last fall motivated people who are concerned the United States may go backward and to speak out on the issue.
“The issue is not about the past election it’s about the future of Ohio,” he said.
