The Million Kid March for Climate Action

What's better than a million people marching for climate action? A million kids marching for climate action. Alec Loorz founded Kids vs. Global Warming at the young age of 12, and his newest venture is organizing a million youth for a march on Mother's Day next year (May 11, 2011).

Of course, future generations will feel the effects of global warming far worse than our own, and while that doesn't seem to matter to a lot of adults, when faced with this reality in a more personal manner, it should be harder for them to ignore. So, this march is focused on just that—getting people to connect the importance of their children to the importance of stopping global climate change. After all, even oil executives have kids, too.

The march is actually called the "iMatter March" and the headline on the march's main webpage is "Million Kid March: Do iMatter to You?"

I imagine this is why the march is being planned for Mother's Day as well, to tap into the motherly protective spirit.

Another key strength of a kid-focused event like this is that a lot of what we learn and do as children has a strong carry-over effect on what we do and care about as adults. For whatever reason, childhood impressions are strong. Organizing an event like this will have a profound impact on the youth who participate and the lives they lead from then on.

Loorz announced the march at the Bioneers 2010 conference a couple weeks ago, a good location given Loorz' great speaking skills and the large number of influential activist organizers at that conference. Ryan Van Lenning of Ecolocalizer, who attended Bioneers 2010, reports: "Loorz is a powerhouse of youthful exuberance and a born leader. It’s hard not to get pumped up by Loorz’s talk of revolution and a new way of living." Van Lenning wrote a few follow-up posts from the Bioneers 2010 sessions and speeches that had the strongest impact on him. It seems that Loorz and the iMatter March came across as especially exciting and salient.

iMatter should be "launching a global map for organizers to register their actions and providing tools for leaders to turn their marches into reality" soon, and you can already sign up as a leader to help organize a march in your area.

And yes, even if you're under 18, you can get involved.

Image Credit: Kids vs Global Warming

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