by Shirley Johnson-Foell, Sonoma Group Climate and Energy Chair, and
Tom Roth, Redwood Chapter Excom
When our planet’s diplomats at the 21st U.N. Conference of the Parties in Paris put the final touches on an agreement to combat climate change on December 11th, some in Sonoma County proudly recalled the small part they played to bring us to that historic point. Symbolically as well as in actual fact, they “got on the bus” to demand strong, significant climate policies.
On Saturday, November 21st, three charter buses pulled up to the green shoreline of Oakland’s Lake Merritt to unload those county residents who had come to march in the NorCal Climate Mobilization March. This strong showing from Sonoma County demonstrated our sense of urgency to get the governments to act before we were overwhelmed with one catastrophe after another.
The buses were a collaborative effort of three organizations, the Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club, Sonoma County Conservation Action and Sonoma County 350.org. One bus was paid for by the Redwood Chapter, along with a special offer for Santa Rosa Junior College Students and Sonoma State University Students to ride it for a discounted $5 fare, which about two dozen students purchased. Riders on the Sierra Club bus received a copy of the Redwood Needles, and information about the Sierra Club Student Coalition. The buses rolled out of Santa Rosa at 9:00 am, and made a pickup at Sonoma State before arriving in Oakland.
Prior to the bus trip, the Sierra Club and Conservation Action assisted Sonoma County 350.org in an art project– the creation of redwood tree shaped signs– which was brought to the Santa Rosa Junior College campus by the college’s Sustainability Committee. A small forest of signs were carried by Sonoma County activists at the march and rally, marking our presence.
The Sierra Club banner was proudly paraded from Lake Merritt to downtown Oakland, only stopping for the occasional group dance that led the cadence, followed by a marching band. Music and good cheer filled the air for the participants of many colors, backgrounds, and physical ability. To look around and see the many faces of kind determination was heart- warming. This is what community is about, getting together and acknowledging humanity—we need to protect the planet! The march concluded at the Frank Ogawa Plaza where the chanting and drumming continued through lunch.
Weary, but uplifted passengers disembarked the buses at SSU and downtown Santa Rosa as daylight began to ebb. In our small way a message was sent to Paris. Perhaps just as important, that message is embedded in the hearts and minds of those who rode the bus to Oakland, who sent their hopes to Paris, and committed themselves to the long road to climate stability and to sustainable and just ways of living together on this Earth.