This Sunday October 10th – Burlington Citywide Day of Climate Action

MEDIA ADVISORY — UPDATE

This Sunday October 10th – Burlington Citywide Day of Climate Action 20 + organizations bring hundreds together

Afternoon Celebration with Senator Sanders, Senator Leahy, Congressman Welch, Mayor Kiss, and Gubernatorial Candidate Peter Shumlin

On October 10th 2010, tens of thousands of people will be picking up hammers, shovels and caulking guns to join 350.org’s 10/10/10 Global Work Party, the world’s largest climate action event, with over 6,000 simultaneous work projects scheduled in 183 countries.

Here, in Burlington, hundreds of local citizens will converge at Battery Park at 10am before fanning out across the city to join work projects organized by 350.org volunteers and hosted by a long list of local organizations, including: City Market, Intervale Conservation Nursery, CarShare Vermont, Burlington Bicycle Coalition, Burlington Electric Department, New Farms for New Americans, UVM’s Rubenstein School Stewards, the Chittenden County Transportation Authority, among others.

These projects will improve our city while actively combating climate change and raising public awareness about the planet’s most urgent challenge — bringing the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide down from 392 parts per million to below 350 ppm, deemed by climatologists to be the safe upper limit.

Through this global day of action, organizers and participants will convey passionate global support for the importance of the 350 ppm target, as endorsed by climate experts and activists like Bill McKibben, Dr. James Hansen, Vandana Shiva, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, David Suzuki and many more.

After the day of action, participants will again converge at Battery Park (starting at 3:30pm), to

hear Vermont leaders Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Patrick Leahy, Representative Peter Welch,

gubernatorial candidate Peter Shumlin and Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss speak to their vision on raising the bar for climate action.

Local organizer Nathaly Agosto Filión states, “Vermont has repeatedly shown national leadership,

from being the first state to abolish slavery to establishing the first school for women to pursue a higher education. We’re proud of that history! And we’re coming together for the Global Work Party to highlight examples of real climate solutions Vermonters can lead on here and now.” The Burlington event will coincide with dozens of similar events scheduled across Vermont.

Organizer Jenna Whitson says “after the failure of both Copenhagen and Congress to lead the way these work projects around the globe will tell politicians, ‘We’re working hard now to fight climate change, what about you?’ At the end of their work projects we’ll urge participants to hang up their shovels and pick up their phones, to contact elected officials to say they expect the same level of commitment to climate action from their leaders.”

The 10/10/10 Global Work Party is coordinated by the international climate campaign 350.org.

Additional information about this event and scores of international photos and videos from thousands of simultaneous events across the planet are available for the media at 350.org/media.

What: A day-long, city-wide day of action against climate change – part of a GLOBAL day of action.

Batter Park Event Includes a Free Concert by the Gordon Stone Band from 3:30 – 6:30pm

Where: Battery Park, Burlington VT and at sites throughout the city of Burlington.

When: 10am – 7pm

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For more information on the 10/10/10 Global Work Party, please visit 350.org/media.

For more information on the Burlington Work Party visit 350burlington.org

Media Contacts: Jenna Whitson 603-496-0755 jhwhitson@gmail.com or

Nathaly Agosto Filión 802-578-6277 nathaly.agostofilion@gmail.com