Waynesville, NC, USA— April 19, 2020 — WNC Climate Action Coalition, based in Haywood County, is bringing Earth Day Live 2020 home with an online broadcast at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22, the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day. The event is also sponsored by Climate Reality, founded in 2006 by former Vice President Al Gore. Watch the Haywood County program from the link on WNCClimateAction.com.
The national and global theme of Earth Day 2020 is healing nature and our relationship with Earth, with Native American teachings and actions specially honored. A Native American Hoop Dance, performed as a ceremony of healing, will open and close the program. Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (EBCI) leader Elvia Walkingstiick shares her documentary on Cherokee activists’ experiences at Standing Rock, North Dakota, in 2019. It is key to her work, alongside other EBCI leaders, with the Indigenous Environmental Network.
Haywood Country musicians Darren Nicholson of Balsam Range, Martin Vee and Scottish “Blaxcotsman” Mike Ogletree, and Bona Fide Band will inspire with songs about mountain heritage and nature. A nine-minute video will teach Appalachian “square” dancing—really, it’s done in one big circle, a symbol of connectedness and community.
Presenters will show some of the positive steps taken and planned, such as
continuing stream and groundwater cleanup led by Haywood Waterways Association; \efforts to save the ecosystem of eastern NC by saving the animal at its summit, the critically endangered Red Wolf;
and the thriving small farmers. A short documentary on Collective Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) farmers shows the beauty of small farms along with the incomparable quality of the food.
Steve Winchester and wife Judy Richter Winchester will show and tell why they raise pygmy goats on his grandparents' farm.
Smoky Mountain News and Public Radio reporter Cory Vaillancort tells about collecting ramps, a wild onion, as a Smokies tradition.
Brannen Basham of Spriggley’s Beescaping explains how protecting pollinators is protecting our own food supply and quality of life.
Steve Wall shows their solar panels installed by one of several WNC installers. Solar industries are bringing well-paying jobs to North Carolina.
To address key roles of government, NC General Assembly Representative for District 118 Joe Sam Queen, Democrat, will give a status update on cleanup of industrial poisons and a ban on fracking. Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives Col. Moe Davis will explain why the U.S. Defense Department has, for decades, been mitigating effects of climate change to ensure continuing national security.
More information: WNCClimateAction.com/About or wncclimateaction@gmail.com
