Bill McKibben

After Poland talks, a new reality starts to set in, says McKibben; 350 ppm must be the goal

I spent the last few nights of the recent Poznan climate conference sleeping in the By the Way youth hostel, an excellent accommodation filled with excellent young people who had done excellent work at the negotiations. After the final day of deliberations, many of these young people visited the doubtless excellent discotheques of Poznan, returning […]

Gore embraces 350 ppm target at Poznan

[This post is from Bill McKibben in Poland. For background on the science behind the 350 target and the challenge it poses see here and here.] Al Gore gave the international climate talks in Poznan a new set of marching orders this afternoon, declaring that old targets for fighting global warming had been made obsolete […]

I finally got to see Bill McKibben in action

I’ve read Bill McKibben’s work. I’ve admired Bill McKibben’s work. Hell, I’ve even been lucky enough to edit Bill McKibben’s work. But not until Friday did I meet the man in person. A featured speaker at Greenbuild, McKibben — tall, slight, and soft-spoken — held a crowd of hundreds in thrall as he outlined the […]

Climate activists take heart from Obama’s remarks

  It was snowing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday morning as hundreds gathered to ask for action — the kind of omen that those of us who obsess about global warming look for. Maybe the incoming Obama administration really is ushering in a new climate to our nation’s capital! The president-elect certainly sent a strong […]

More and more voices joining 350.org’s Prez to Poland campaign

Students and faculty at Barry University invite the prez-elect to Poland.   You can count the hours until the election is over, which means the debate has been reduced to its basic elements: Who’s a socialist? Who’s a plumber? Who’s ahead? But against that backdrop, one large group of people — voters here in America […]

New Mother Jones piece flaunts climate starpower, but lacks practical suggestions

Magazines like to tease their readers with headlines that promise answers to seemingly intractable problems. Such seems to be the intent of the lead story of the December 2008 issue of Mother Jones, entitled “How to rescue the economy and save the planet.” Al Gore, Bill McKibben, and Nobel-laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz hold forth, among […]

Savvy citizen asks the right question about climate change at debate

Thank heavens for the “average citizen.” After approximately 4 million debates over the past year, someone finally asked the right and real question about climate change. Ingrid Jackson, over in Section C of the audience in Tuesday night’s debate, didn’t ask if the candidates thought global warming was real, and she didn’t even ask what […]

The 350ppm challenge to U.S. environmental organizations and the importance of McKibben’s 350.org

Bill McKibben spoke about 350.org recently at the Jamaica Plain Forum. Coming on the heels of recent talks by Ross Gelbspan, also at the JP Forum, and Jim Hansen, in Lexington, Mass., Bill's talk completed a trifecta of area appearances by climate action patriots.

My friend Andrée, who attended all three events, said: "Hansen has the reserve of a scientist, and the certainty of someone who knows he is right. McKibben is just like his writing -- philosophical, wry and funny, and Gelbspan ..." she paused ... "Gelbspan is a mensch."

Like McKibben himself, 350.org may be tagged as too expansive, missing a sharp political point. I agree with Lorna Salzman's concerns, but I do not think 350.org can or should try to be all things.

McKibben and the Step It Up crew have set out a tremendous undertaking, trying to do in very short order what U.S. environmental organizations and funders -- with thousands of staff, millions of members, a billion+ in assets, and decades of lead time -- never attempted. Those who believe it is high time we turn our institution to the purpose for which is was created have a great deal of heavy lifting to do, and those efforts will be strengthened by 350.org, for these reasons:

Go get your grassroots on

350.org has officially launched, in eight languages. Grassroots actions are now being planned around the world, from the Great Wall of China to the Eiffel Tower. Here’s a fantastic video: For more on 350, see: Bill McKibben on the need for 350ppm as a global target Bill McKibben on the kick-off of 350.org Me on […]