'Occupy Wall Street' Protests Attract Environmentalists
The “Occupy Wall Street” protests have gained national momentum, attracting the support of unions, religious groups, and now – environmentalists.
Hundreds of climate activists affiliated with 350.org, a grassroots group globally committed to climate and global warming control, joined over 30 unions in the “Occupy Wall Street” March which took place Wednesday in Lower Manhattan, according to Forbes.
“For too long, Wall Street has been occupying the offices of our government, and the cloakrooms of our legislatures,” Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org, wrote to protestors in support of Wednesday’s march.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Now that the protest has gained such dynamic support and created a national following, spreading to cities throughout America, the media has started to question how protesters plan to actually achieve their goal of ending U.S. corporate greed.
“Our nation, our species and our world are in crisis. The U.S. has an important role to play in the solution, but we can no longer afford to let corporate greed and corrupt politics set the policies if our nation,” read a statement issued by the leaderless protest.
The protest, which enters its third week today, has received the attention of media stations and now the White House.
President Barack Obama has formally expressed empathy for the “Occupy Wall Street” protest at a forum in Washington D.C. Thursday.
"I think it expresses the frustrations the American people feel, that we had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, huge collateral damage all throughout the country ... and yet you're still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on the abusive practices that got us into this in the first place,” stated Obama.
“The protest has exploded into a grassroots movement which is gaining legitimacy,” said CNN.
"It was encouraging to see that the environmental message was very widespread and very meshed in with the broader Occupy Wall Street movement," Justin Haaheim, a lead organizer of 350.org, told Forbes.
But what is the ultimate goal of the protestors?
The “goal is to start making things fairer in this country,” Tricia Lyons told The Christian Post.
“There is too much legislative unfairness, and too many tax loopholes. We need Congress to pay attention,” Lyons added.
While some urged a general improvement in legislative affairs, others have very specific requirements for the bigwigs in Washington.
Alan Saly, Director of Publications at the Transport Workers Union local 100, argued that the purpose of the protest was to “see the Millionaire’s Tax reinstated.”
The Millionaire’s Tax, proposed by Barack Obama, seeks to tax those who make more than $1 million a year the same rate as middle class earners.
The Transport Workers Union represents a large majority of NYC transit workers, and has pledged to support the protest on a national level.
Others, like protester Javier Robles, just want to “raise awareness.”
“The ultimate goal is to get people moving. Get people off their butts because the poor are getting poorer and the rich richer.”
Robles is a member of Gimptastic, which seeks to bring awareness to the disabled community around America.
The protest has gained an impressive following since its modest beginning of 100 participants.
It garnered its largest following Tuesday, when 10,000 protestors and union members marched to Foley Square and back to show their solidarity in changing “corporate greed.”
