"[2] The non-profit organization planned to mobilize one thousand people to march across the continental United States in order to raise awareness and action on anthropogenic climate change.

The route passed through California,[9][10][11][12] Arizona,[13][14][15] New Mexico,[16][17][18][19][20] Colorado,[21][22][23] Nebraska,[24][25][26] Iowa,[27][28][29][30][31] Illinois,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38] Indiana,[39][40][41][42] Ohio,[43][44][45][46] Pennsylvania,[47][48] Maryland, Washington, D.C.[49][50] and the following cities (unverified):[8] Reverend Bob Cook planned to take part in the march.

"The Des Moines pastor’s life work has been for the poor, but he doesn’t view the Great March for Climate Action as a departure.

“Atmospheric disruption is a real threat that people do not take seriously and will make mitigation and adaptation efforts a lot more difficult.”[43] Faith Meckley, a student at Ithaca College, says, “I was interested, but only for a three-week walk from Pittsburgh to Washington.

Organizers had hoped to haul all of the gear and supplies via bicycles to minimize energy consumption and maximize sustainability, but after some intensive research this proved infeasible, so trucks running on biodiesel or vegetable oil fuel were used.

Research into solar cookers, composting toilets, determined how far the marchers were able to use sustainable methods to handle food and energy needs, and human waste.