Bloomington 350 to fight for climate change

Bloomington 350, a local chapter of the international climate organization 350.org, will join grassroots coalitions around the world to raise awareness about climate change through the International Day of Climate Action.

Mayor Mark Kruzan will kick off the event with an address at noon Saturday at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market.

At 12:30 p.m., participants will parade to the Third Street Park, where the action will continue with speakers, music and artistic demonstrations until 5 p.m., when it will close with a performance by local band Atomic Bombay.

350.org will facilitate events taking place in more than 160 different countries in an attempt to gain recognition from world leaders weeks before a meeting in Copenhagen to discuss international policy on climate change.

According to the organization’s Web site, it uses the number 350 to demonstrate a scientific concept proposed about the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere.

Scientists, such as NASA’s Dr. James Hansen, have warned that if the earth continues to have a number above 350 ppm (parts per million) carbon dioxide, it will face potentially dangerous environmental changes.

Currently, the earth’s atmosphere contains roughly 390 ppm carbon dioxide, and 350 coalitions hope to show support for an international commitment to reducing the amount to 350 ppm.

Michael Beczkiewicz, Bloomington 350 organizer, said the event is for education, demonstration and celebration of the community’s commitment to climate action.

“It’s a serious topic, and it can be really scary,” Beczkiewicz said. “But we’re trying to have a balance between serious and fun.”

Beczkiewicz said Indiana is crucial to getting the rest of the nation on the climate action bandwagon because of its strong reliance on coal, the biggest contributor of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Monica Embrey, the main coordinator of the Coal Free IU Campaign, said the University’s coal facility on Fee Lane burns roughly 68,000 tons of coal per year on heating and cooling alone.

Senior Terrence Ellison, an events coordinator for the Coal Free IU Campaign, said he was upset when he learned of the campus’s coal facility.

“Coal is more than what you put in a fireplace,” Ellison said. “We’re breathing it right now.”

Beczkiewicz said the campus’s coal facility is not atypical of Indiana.

“Indiana’s carbon dioxide emission per capita is number one in the U.S.,” Beczkiewicz said. “There’s one state, Wyoming, that’s more dependent on coal burning than us ... I think if we can change, the world can change.”