GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A call to action was given on Saturday as activists rallied for a climate march in Grand Rapids for Earth Day.
"I really just want to show my friends and family like how important this is, and how we really just need to get out there and fight for, you know, change to solve this climate justice problem," rally attendee Anna Rapaport said.
After hearing from speakers at Rosa Parks Circle, rallygoers marched through the streets of Grand Rapids.
They were joined by multiple local action groups and organizations in the Grand Rapids Climate Coalition.
"We're here to engage the citizenry and say, 'Hey, citizens, you got to come out and do your part,'" Community Collaboration on Climate Change's Project Coordinator Ned Andre said. "There are a lot of dollars that are going to begin to flow, and we want to make sure that people can tap into those dollars, plant trees, peel up asphalt, reduce traffic on the roads, put in light rail, electrify. We need to electrify our homes and get off of fossil fuels."
The local movement has inspired members of all generations.
Younger rallygoers conveyed urgency over a future they see as in peril.
"Like, at some point, something will happen and, me personally, I'm scared that I can never actually live a full life with this ever-endangering fear of climate change always creeping behind me, ready to snatch me at any moment," rally attendee Liam Milzarski said.
Initiatives to combat climate change have emerged from multiple levels of government. Rallygoers made note of the White House's Justice40 plan to funnel resources into areas most impacted by pollution, as well as Michigan's MI Healthy Climate Plan set at shifting the state to a carbon-neutral economy by 2050.
Just this week, bills introduced in the state legislature would establish low-carbon fuel standards and increase benchmarks for electric providers' plans to reduce energy waste.
One lawmaker at the rally said more changes could soon be on the way.
"Just this week, I dropped the Community Solar Bills," State Rep. Rachel Hood (D-Grand Rapids). "Those bills are necessary to turn that dump over there on the other side of the river into a solar field."
It was a community rallying together to shine a light on what they see as a growing issue, urging power in Grand Rapids, Lansing and Washington to continue in pursuit of a brighter future.
"I think we're somewhat on the right path," rallygoer Emma Stapleton said. "I think we still have a long while to go. I think it also depends on everyone to come and support, because that's all we can do, like, support each other and support the earth. And if we don't do that, then we don't have a future."
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