Youth represent Fil-Am community in NY climate rally

Even by New York City standards, the September 21 People’s Climate March was very successful – diverse, peaceful, and joyous. About 400,000 people from all sectors participated in the march.

A Filipino-American contingent, represented by several organizations and activists, was led by the youth. Chanting and dancing all the way, this Fil-Am group was one of the loudest and most active in the march.

Many of the placards were not directly related to the environment, but several had: “President Aquino: Act Now!” and “Remember Haiyan Victims!”

The Philippines being one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, Filipinos here and at home should view this march as just the beginning of efforts to deal with the unusual patterns in the weather that often result in natural disasters.

To campaign for the environment means to challenge our own attitude — that our lifestyle and standard of living are non-negotiable.

There are very concrete steps we can take immediately, and some of them include:

• Take public transportation
• Recycle all waste
• Eat less meat or no meat (animal agriculture is a major polluter)
• Use less water
• Buy organic food – buy local
• Divest investments in fossil fuel – support renewable energy
• Demand action from our government leaders

—The FilAm