The nearly completed globe at the Bank of America Pavilion.

When CLF decided to sponsor a globe for the Cool Globes public art exhibition launching today on Boston Common, we knew we wanted to involve lots of people in its creation. The idea of a crowdsourced design for our globe was our way of connecting CLF’s often behind-the-scenes work on climate change to the people who give that work voice.

As New England’s leading advocates for solutions to climate change, we often ask our members and friends to join us in appealing to decision makers in our region and in Washington – to support strong climate legislation, to fund energy efficiency programs and public transportation, to build cleaner cars and promote cleaner fuels to run them, to expedite renewable energy development and to reduce our reliance on dirty fossil fuels for electricity, to name a few.

New England’s Climate Pledge, as our globe is entitled, asks the people and friends of New England to do their part to reduce climate pollution. The pledge and its flourishes were artfully inscribed on the six foot tall, white fiberglass structure by Alexandra (Ali) Overing, a Bard College student with a passion for the environment, and a way with a paint pen (and, we are told, a twin talent for vocal performance). Ali’s bold design gave the words the appropriate gravitas, while including just enough visual interest and artistic touches to get passersby to stop, read and think.

So, the concept of a giant, 3-D climate petition came naturally to us, but how to find people to sign it? Enter the Bank of America Pavilion, site of a star-studded outdoor concert series that attracts tens of thousands of people every summer from all over New England and beyond. The Pavilion management gave CLF’s globe pride of place on the concourse where it attracted concertgoers like moths to a flame.

Enthusiastic concert-goers pick their spots to sign.

From the fresh-faced young fans of the Jonas Brothers to the spirited teen followers of bands like Imagine Dragons, to the older crowds rocking out to the Black Crowes and Beck, hundreds and hundreds of people stopped by to sign the globe and take our climate pledge. CLF staff and summer interns were delighted to meet so many enthusiastic New Englanders who agreed that they would play a role – the most important role – in reducing climate pollution. Their names, proudly inscribed in neon colors alongside their hometowns, represent the power of individuals and a region united to make a difference.

You can come see CLF’s Cool Globe on the Boston Common beginning today through October 15. And you, too, can take New England’s Climate Pledge, wherever you live.

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