Extinction Rebellion
The Climate Café at Holyoke Community College will welcome two local members of the international climate activist group Extinction Rebellion for a presentation on climate change and what people can do about it, Wed., Nov. 20.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will run from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in room 301 of the Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development on the main HCC campus, 303 Homestead Ave.
Representatives from the western Massachusetts chapter of Extinction Rebellion will discuss local and international efforts to address climate change and highlight work being done at neighboring colleges to encourage divestment in fossil fuel companies and develop plans to achieve climate neutral emissions by 2025. According to the Climate Cafes website – climatecafes.wordpress.com – Climate cafés are a new initiative modeled after the concept of a "philosopher's café" and "aimed at empowering people to make the small but important differences in their lifestyle that can have dramatic effects on the long-term health of our planet."
The Climate Café group at HCC was established earlier this semester.
"Locally, the Climate Cafe is an initiative of Mass Audubon to raise awareness of the issues of climate change and climate disruption," said Kate Maiolatesi, chair of the Sustainability Studies program at HCC. "Someone from Audubon came to facilitate the first cafe at HCC in September and it was a great success. About 50 students and faculty attended. Now we meet every couple of weeks to discuss what we as a campus community can do about it."
