Climate rally to be held in LaGrange

Published 7:21 pm Tuesday, December 3, 2019

The LaGrange Group of the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club, the LaGrange College Sustainability Council and the LaGrange Group for a Sustainable Future are hosting a Climate Rally in LaGrange on Friday.  

According to a press release, the Climate Rally will be a community event designed to encourage all citizens to support diverse and comprehensive action to rapidly reduce the threats that climate change poses to our society — the common health and wellbeing of the people and places. 

The rally will describe the climate crisis and outline the ways it affects Troup County. A press release on the event said several elected officials and citizen-professionals are lined-up to speak at Flagpole Park, the Troup County Courthouse and LaGrange City Hall about concerns, goals and action items designed to address the climate emergency. 

“We’ve organized this Climate Rally to bring overdue attention to a Climate Crisis that is destabilizing our public health and safety in diverse and alarming ways,” said Sam Breyfogle, a member of the local branch of the Sierra Club. “Climate change is not just one among many problems we face. It is the most foundational and urgent among the many issues before us. So many facets of our personal choices, business activities and public infrastructure must be modified soon to improve the situation.”

The LaGrange group of the Georgia Chapter represents 80 local members of the Sierra Club, a 3.5-million-member national organization. According to the press release, the club is a completely volunteer driven organization that has been active since 2008. The local group takes part in efforts to explore, enjoy and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives. 

The LaGrange College Sustainability Council is a faculty-student organization advising the college on matters of sustainability. The council coordinates numerous activities for students on campus and recently coordinated Tree Campus USA status for the college.  

The LaGrange Group for a Sustainable Future promotes environmental action locally. The organization was created in early 2019 to inform local citizens of the urgency of responding to concerns about climate change.

The Climate Rally will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday at Flagpole Park on Vernon and Main Street—diagonally across from LaFayette Square. The public is invited to sign up to attend the Climate Rally.