Moving Planet Louisville Talks Transportation...And a Conga Line

On Sept 24th, the Sierra Club played a pivotal in organizing a great Moving Planet event in Louisville, Kentucky. The event was attended by over 200 people. Sierra Club Leader Drew Foley did an amazing job coordinating the event. Letter-writing tables were organized so that folks who attended the event could write letters to local officials urging them to move Beyond Fossil Fuel. Over 100 postcards were also gathered to tell President Obama to strengthen safeguards concerning coal pollution and gas powered automobiles.

The keynote speaker for the event was Congressman John Yarmuth who spoke for the need to see EPA safeguards put in place that would protect citizens from toxic coal burning power plants and cars powered by fossil fuel.

We had music from Appalatin (pictured above), a group that fuses the sounds of Eastern KY together with Latino music They played a wonderful set that brought the group together in a conga line dancing to “The Local Motion” a rewrite of Grand Funk Railroad hit “Locamotion”. The lyrics were rewritten and sung by Julie Evans to call for a move away from fossil fuel through adopting the call for "Loca Motions". Kri & Hettie provided folk music that had the crowd singing along and dancing as well (photo below shows local Sierra Clubber Drew Foley leading the conga line).

The group is pushing the city to adopt new approaches to several areas of concern in regard to moving Beyond Fossil Fuel:
1. Reduce Private Auto Use! Walk, Bike, and TARC (local public transit system)!
2. Improve Public Transit! Expand TARC service!
3. Support Walking and Biking More sidewalks and bike lanes!
4. Limit Suburban Sprawl! Shepherd our land!
5. Lower Harmful Emissions! Less Pollution=Better Health!
6. Create Low-Carbon Mobility! Use renewable energy!
7. Enforce Traffic Rules! Slow Down: People Walking and Biking!