Climate activists blocked traffic heading into South Boston during the Monday evening rush hour as part of an Earth Day demonstration calling on state officials to halt “new fossil fuel infrastructure projects,” according to organizers.
Members of the group Extinction Rebellion gathered at Christopher Columbus Park in the North End about 4 p.m. and later marched down the Rose Kennedy Greenway to the Evelyn Moakley Bridge, which carries traffic between downtown and the Seaport. There, about 150 demonstrators filled the south side of the bridge, preventing traffic from entering South Boston, while cars could still pass on the other side, heading downtown.
Boston police issued a traffic advisory shortly after 6 p.m., warning drivers heading for the bridge to seek an alternate route into South Boston. About a half-hour later, police said the protesters had gone and the bridge was fully reopened.
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While demonstrators occupied the bridge, a band played music as people sang along and danced while holding signs, including some that read “No new fossil fuel infrastructure,” “This is an emergency,” “All that you touch you change,” and “Stop climate injustice.”
Rob Vandenabeele, a middle-school teacher in Sharon who participated in the protest, said Monday’s march was a way to take “personal action” against climate injustice.
“It’s been eating me up inside, honestly, thinking about the future,” said the 57-year-old Cambridge resident. “It seems like time to start doing something other than making social media posts or trying to convince my friends and family that [climate change] is a lot more important than people seem to understand.”
Although he was excited to take to the streets with “other people who get it,” Vandenabeele said he had hoped more would attend the march.
“If we don’t have more people taking activist roles, then we’re going to have these terrible regrets at some point, probably in my lifetime,” said Vandenabeele, who attached a handmade cardboard sign to his bike. “I don’t really want to live with that regret. I want to at least be able to say I was doing what I could.”
Among the demonstrators were many children who came with their families.
Mandala Sindelar, an 11-year-old student at the Neighborhood School in Jamaica Plain, held a papier-mâché turtle as she marched through the streets with her younger sister.
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“I’m here fighting for climate justice around the world, specifically fossil fuels and their industries,” Mandala said. “I think it’s really important because everyone’s daily impact affects it.”
Another marcher, Wellesley resident Peter Watson, 80, said he was one of 20 activists arrested in Bedford on Saturday while protesting a proposal to add 17 hangars for private jets at Hanscom Air Force Base.
“I feel a responsibility because for lots and lots of years, I was blind to what was going on and wasn’t doing anything about it,” Watson said. “It’s very important to get noticed, because not enough people are paying attention to the climate crisis.”
Dozens of students, including Sara Rigatti, a sophomore at Boston College, showed up to march with handmade signs. A member of the university’s activism committee, Rigatti said club members use public events to stay engaged with the issues they care about.
“If you’re just alone in your room looking up petitions you can sign, it doesn’t really feel like you’re making a difference,” said Rigatti, who is studying environmental geoscience. “I think it’s really important to continue to feel motivated to do activism by coming to these events, because they really rekindle that fire.”
Lila Hempel-Edgers can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @hempeledgers and on Instagram @lila_hempel_edgers. Nick Stoico can be reached at [email protected].