With 5,600 events spread over 180 countries, there has been no end to the reports on what transpired at the climate-change rallies instigated by 350.org on Saturday . I've seen a half dozen just in my in-box, and many more filled my Facebook windows before my account crapped out (710 friends gone, just like that!).

Still, I offer my account from Minuteman National Park in Concord, where "about 350" people (no really, that's a fair estimate) from about 40 towns gathered to help send the message to Copenhagen that we are legion, those who desire and expect strong global accord, and action, to stop the mad dash to climate ruin mankind sparked with the Industrial Revolution.

We gathered just to one side of the Old North Bridge, site of the first fighting in America's fight for independence. The spot was soggy but still quite appropriate to the event, calling as it did for an energy revolution. The misty and rainy weather could have been worse, and besides, it was also appropriate to the task, considering that climate was central to the point. It's hard to say how many folks might have attended had the day been sunny, but it's easy to say that those who attended were boisterous and clearly committed.

(To disclose what is already be obvious, I want to make clear that I attended the event as a peripheral organizer, and I fully support its aims. I am still a journalist, and I employ journalistic techniques herein, but I was and am not impartial, and this is not an objective-third-party report.)

After a folk music prelude and a march in by a few fife-and-drum-toting Minutemen, the event was opened by Roger Shamel, who spearheaded the demonstration with support from his wife, Susan, and better than a dozen town-based coordinators. Shamel is founder and leader of the Global Warming Education Network, based in Lexington.

Speakers included three young advocates identified only by their first names, including Toby of Lexington, who said, "I still have three more years before I can vote, so it means a lot that the adults are coming together to do something about global warming," and Alex, a 10-year-old who concluded his prepared remarks by asking, "if I do my part, will you do yours?" 

At least a dozen area churches chimed their steeple bells 350 times on Saturday morning to sound a climate clarion, in the run-up to the regional Concord gathering. That was the idea of the Rev. Jim Antal of the Mass. United Church of Christ, who began his comments from the lectern by observing that while carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere are at 390 parts per million today — well above the scientifically determined safe maximum of 350 — they were at 280 at the time of the revolution, at the time of Mohammed, at the time of Jesus, and at the time of Moses. He blamed fossil fuel, coal, oil, "greed, and convenience" for the rise.

Rob Garrity, the chief of the Mass. Climate Action Network who was fighting a painful dental abcess, then took the stage for brief comments ("Who's the most importat climate activist here today? Well, look in the mirror.") and to introduce two state legislators with strong climate-action portfolios.

First up was state Sen. Marc Pacheco, who as chairman of Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change was a moving force in the blizzard of pro-green laws enacted by the state in the past two years. Pacheco said we should celebrate his Global Warming Solutions Act as "the most progressive in the United States," but also said that "the political will" must demand that the state begin at the top limits of what the bill calls for, up to a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, and up to 80 percent by 2050, as compared to 1990 levels.

"The most recent science would indicate we should have chosen far greater standards than are in the law," he said.

Both Pacheco and the next speaker, state Rep. Will Brownsberger, forcefully made the point that climate change goes far beyond being "just" an environmental issue. "It's a public health issue, it's a national security issue, it's an economic issue," Pacheco said. During this, I was standing near Antal, who added a revival-ish "that's right" to each assertion.

That revival spirit extended to the crowd, too. As Brownsberger painted his broader picture of the problem's dimensions — those who are concerned should do more than just turn off the lights, but change their diet (because of carbon costs of modern agriculture), travel less and take other steps. "Have fewer kids," someone cried from the audience, which Brownsberger endorsed.

Brownsberger then compared one serious societal ill after another to climate change and asked, which one is more likely to have caused more pain a few decades hence. Right in step, a crowd member chimed, "it's all connected." Added Brownsberger: "We have to think about what we're doing in a larger context, but in the short run, we also have to align ourselves with other critical priorities."

"A vision of a collaborative world is at the heart of Copenhagen," he said. Copenhagen is where world climate-change delegates will gather in December.

The event, which lasted about 90 minutes, then shifted to its official picture-taking spot, the monument to Revolutionary fighting just at the Concord River's edge. As it wended its way down the path, the long and winding congregation was an inspiring sight. 

Addendum: Yes, it would be great to let you and other readers just check out photos here, but I just don't have the bandwidth to upload them to this post. Go here if you would like to see them: http://tinyurl.com/ygzcxxl