Bill McKibben: "Climate, Movements, and Power"
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
Nate Hagens
4.8 • 553 Ratings
🗓️ 20 December 2023
⏱️ 80 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode, environmental activist and author Bill McKibben joins Nate for a reflection on the last few decades of climate education and movements – and the possibilities and challenges that we'll face ahead. Among a system that is dependent on growth and embedded in a biosphere full of limits (which we continue to surpass), working towards shifting our societies to be ecologically balanced is potentially the most important mission to which an individual can contribute - yet this is much easier said than done. What have been the largest barriers towards actual effective climate action since emissions have continued in a straight line up since the 20th century? What power structures stand as a barrier to proactive initiatives, and which ones could we utilize to propel movements forward? How can we prepare and organize at the individual, community, and national levels, as we look ahead to climate - and other - challenges we're likely to face in the coming decades?
About Bill McKibben
Bill McKibben is founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 for action on climate and justice. His 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change, and has appeared in 24 languages. He's gone on to write 20 books, and his work appears regularly in periodicals from the New Yorker to Rolling Stone. McKibben helped found 350.org, the first global grassroots climate campaign, which has organized protests on every continent, including Antarctica, for climate action. He played a leading role in launching the opposition to big oil pipeline projects like Keystone XL, and the fossil fuel divestment campaign, which has become the biggest anti-corporate campaign in history.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qCrgpdHCO3U
Find out more, and show notes: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/102-bill-mckibben
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to The Great Simplification with Nate Higgins. |
| 0:06.0 | That's me. |
| 0:07.8 | On this show, we try to explore and simplify what's happening with energy, the economy, the |
| 0:14.3 | environment, and our society. |
| 0:17.6 | Together with scientists, experts, and leaders, this show is about understanding the bird's-eye view of how everything fits together, where we go from here and what we can do about it as a society and as individuals. |
| 0:32.9 | Today's guest is my old friend Bill McKibbin. |
| 0:36.5 | Bill was one of the co-founders of the climate organization 350.org, which was the first global grassroots climate campaign that organized protests and demonstrations all around the world, including Antarctica on climate action. |
| 0:53.8 | Bill also recently founded |
| 0:56.2 | Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 for action on climate and other social issues. |
| 1:04.5 | His 1989 book, The End of Nature, is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change. |
| 1:13.5 | I read it, and it was one of the few books that caused me to leave Wall Street and go study |
| 1:19.3 | ecological economics. |
| 1:21.4 | Bill and I don't always agree on prescriptions and energy in the economy, but we share a deep, |
| 1:30.6 | aligned value system on nature, |
| 1:37.0 | on the importance of climate change and the biosphere. And I'd like you to please welcome Bill McKibbon. |
| 1:38.5 | Thank you. It's good to see you, old friend. Very good. |
| 1:57.8 | You know, we are older. It was 20 years ago that I emailed you and 19 years ago when we met in |
| 2:05.0 | person when I was getting my PhD in Burlington, time flies. I'm much older than you, but I spend all |
| 2:12.1 | my time now with other old people like me. So I'm completely adjusted to it. |
| 2:18.8 | You know, I don't have the data in front of me right now, |
| 2:23.3 | but from the time we met, or maybe a little bit before then, |
| 2:28.2 | talking about climate and CO2, the CO2 that humans have emitted per year is doubled. |
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