AUSTIN, TX — An estimated crowd of 2,000 people gathered at the state Capitol grounds on Saturday for "Austin People's Climate March and Rally" designed to call attention to environmental issues speakers said are treated dismissively by some lawmakers.

While focused on issues of climate, the march was something of a follow-up to the prior weekend's "March for Science" organized with a similar aim. Like that event, the climate-related version was staged at cities throughout the country with the main event in Washington, D.C. Among the crowd delivering remarks were such luminaries as U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett and Austin Mayor Steve Adler.

The former speaker didn't pull any punches in a gathering theoretically meant to be apolitical, making comparisons between the GOP-controlled state Legislature with Donald Trump while saying both share a rebuke of evolution and other scientific matters. "And I'm not real sure where they are on gravity," Doggett said, prompting laughter and cheers from the audience. For his part, Adler touted the city's moves in achieving a zero carbon footprint by the year 2050 and ongoing efforts to conserve electricity.

But the stars of the show were the people. From all walks of life, young and old alike descended on the Capitol grounds to promote environmental awareness. Signs ran the gamut from the reflective ("We Can't Craft a New One," referring to irreversible damage to the planet) to the funny ("It's not the heat, it's the stupidity.")

See related story:'People's Climate March' Taking Place In Austin This Saturday To Defend Science

Bren Hardt traveled from Brenham, Texas, to attend the rally—arriving by car up to La Grange, Texas, before boarding a bus filled with 30 others parked at a Walmart parking lot to reach the Capitol. While most of those in attendance (including Hardt's 85-year-old friend who accompanied her) marched along downtown streets before re-converging at the Capitol, Hardt took a breather from rallying as she rested on a bench.

Bren Hardt "I have three children and four grandchildren," said Hardt, who was named after her birthplace, in explaining her inspiration for attending the rally. "I love the planet, and I enjoy nature. It's really appalling that we continue to bring death up from the ground," she said, referring to the continuing use of fossil fuels coaxed from the ground even with abundantly available renewable energy sources. Joe Zakes said his political activism was reawakend after the last presidential election that led to Trump becoming president. As a teenager growing up in Houston, he joined others to rally against the Vietnam War.

"You might say I'm ending a period of political dormancy," he said. Since Trump's election, he's now a veteran of five marches calling attention to a variety of issues, including the recent "Women's March" and "Tax March," he said. He called his participation as a tactic of "counter-acting stupidity," he said.

"I think the No. 1 thing is that we're all here supporting each other, and not acting in isolation," he said of his like-minded fellow marchers. He said the experience reminded him of his youth when he voiced opposition to the Vietnam War: "It's pretty similar. It's a bunch of liberals saying 'this isn't right' but with better drum music."