Martin Luther King III speaks at Climate and Environmental Justice Town Hall on Saturday

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - On Saturday, state and national advocacy groups hosted a Climate and Environmental Justice Town Hall.

It's a week before the Democratic primary in South Carolina.

Speakers included Martin Luther King III, a leader in Flint, Michigan, South Carolina State Representative JA Moore and more.

King spoke about environmental sustainability and political participation he also encouraged people to vote in future elections.

“The reality is we should vote in every election, not just presidential elections,” King said. " I think this election in this year in 2020 will probably be one of the most important elections in our lifetime."

Organizers say the event aimed to shine a spotlight on the impacts of climate change and air and water pollution on South Carolina communities.

“There is a crisis and when you look at the number of floodings that occurred, I heard there were 90 days almost of flooding, in this community and that cannot be normal,” King said. “Many industries are affected, the fishing industry, just a number of industries and people cannot live that way. When we have technology like we do, we report to be this incredible country with all this ingenuity and technology. Why are we not using it to address these issues that are impacting our communities.”

The town hall also stressed the importance of local, state and federal action.

A leader in Flint spoke about the Flint water crisis and contaminated water. South Carolina Representative JA More discussed a bill he created that aims to provide better drinking water regulations.

“It tries to attack and provide a basic right, clean drinking water,” Moore said.

Organizations hosting this event include the Conservation Voters of South Carolina, National Wildlife Federation, National Action Network, International African American Museum and the South Carolina Wildlife Federation.

Supporting Partners of the event include American Rivers, American Institute of Architects SC, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Sierra Club - SC Chapter, Coastal Conservation League, Audubon South Carolina, the League of Women Voters SC and Black Voters Matter.

“I absolutely think that voters have to not just be concerned about the issues.... voters must raise these issues with candidates and candidates must have sufficient answers,” King said.

The town hall took place at Charity Missionary Baptist Church located at 1544 E. Montague Avenue in North Charleston.

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