(EDITOR’S NOTE: The Great March for Climate Action has been holding events along their path since they left California. The march is presently in Iowa, and they planned events in Des Moines, Newton, Iowa City and Davenport to rally opposition to the Iowa Bakken pipeline. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement sent along this press release, which BFIA has modified slightly).

DES MOINES– Statewide demonstrations against the Iowa Bakken pipeline will take place as part of the “Great March for Climate Action” as the group marches across Iowa this month, enroute from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.

A national climate justice march started by former State Representative Ed Fallon, has connected with opponents of a proposed Iowa Bakken oil pipeline and will hold four rallies and marches in four separate cities as the group walks across the state.

The events will feature speakers from the Great March for Climate Action as well as local-area Citizens for Community Improvement farmers and other everyday Iowans concerned about climate change and the Iowa Bakken oil pipeline. The dates and times are:

Des Moines, Monday, Aug. 11, 5 p.m., Ritual Café to the Iowa State Capitol;
Newton, Thursday, Aug. 14, time and location to be Announced;
Iowa City, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 11:30 a.m., ped mall;
Davenport, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2pm, LeClaire Park.

The Newton rally will also include representatives from Bold Nebraska, a grassroots group that has united farmers, ranchers and environmentalists to fight back against the Keystone XL pipeline.

“I am marching across the country to sound the alarm that our planet is in serious peril,” said Miriam Kashia, a North Liberty woman who has taken every step of the Great March. “Building a dangerous Bakken crude oil pipeline does not fit into my vision of a livable future.”

Organizers with the Great March for Climate Action and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement say the statewide demonstrations will mark a major escalation in the movement to stop the Iowa Bakken oil pipeline as opposition moves from social media and the Internet to the streets.

A petition launched by Iowa CCI members calling on Governor Branstad to reject the pipeline proposal has garnered hundreds of signatures in less than a week online.

The Great March for Climate Action departed Los Angeles on March 1 and is scheduled to arrive in Washington, DC on Nov. 1.

To learn more about the Great March for Climate Action, click here.