Top officials from around the world will attend the two-week United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris next month.
The group Resilient Nacogdoches plans to hold the Pineywoods Global Climate Justice Walk before the talks begin to urge world leaders to transition away from fossil fuels. Organizer Vicki Lunell Baggett says the goal of Resilient Nacogdoches is to promote a safe, healthy community that embraces climate justice.
“With climate change there will be changes. But, building a strong local food supply, a local economy and walkability -- there are myriad things to do to make your communities as resilient as possible,” Baggett said.
The walk will begin with a community garden dedication at Thomas J. Rusk Elementary School. The walk will end at Festival Park with music and speakers.
Resilient Nacogdoches organizer Alec Johnson says the organization grew out of the Tar Sands Blockade effort in East Texas that attempted to stop the southern leg of TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline project. Now, he says, the group has shifted its focus to climate change, and he thinks this justice walk is a turning point.
“What I’m blissing on is the idea that when we’re walking all across the globe there will be other footfalls echoing every step we take because this is going to be a global thing,” Johnson said, a former “blockader” who has since settled in Nacogdoches.
The Pineywoods Global Climate Justice Walk will be held Sunday, Nov. 29, at 2 p.m. in Nacogdoches. The walk begins at 2:30 p.m. following the garden dedication at Thomas J. Rusk Elementary Schoo, 411 N. Mound St. Organizers want it to be the largest climate march in Texas.Climate walk piece
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