350 Updates

Bill McKibben "Inspires Audience" in the UK

Jamie Henn
Posted by Jamie Henn - 10/13/08, 10:58am

Thanks to everyone's help, the campaign to send Obama and McCain thousand of invitations to the UN Climate Meetings is exploding: we have over 17,000 invitations so far! Bill is currently on the road drumming up support for the campaign. Check out this recent profile on Treehugger.com about his trip to England:

"The most important number of your lifetime" is how George Spyros titled Bill McKibben's campaign earlier this year. Since 350.org was launched this clear number, referring to the target of parts per million of Co2 in the atmosphere, has ignited the imaginations of people around the world. Bill McKibben took time this weekend to bring his message to the UK, where an audience of 500+ green activists at the Schumacher Conference listened in rapt attention to his powerfully motivating speech. The image above shows Bill McKibben with his friend Satish Kumar of Schumacher College enjoying the verbal dexterity of poet Matt Harvey. Click over the page to hear Bill's message.

The power of turning up in person
McKibben started out by explaining his concern about "the tension between acting locally and acting globally". Travelling to the UK to appear at a one day conference might seem extravagant in terms of emissions, but the impact of imparting his passion and insight in person to a UK audience would, he hopes, far outweigh one return flight across the Atlantic.

 
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Update: McCain Will Do 'Whatever is Necessary' to Move International Talks

May Boeve
Posted by May Boeve - 10/10/08, 10:31am

In an article from the Washington Post, we found some news about how the President-to-Poland ask is being picked up by reporters. Reuters asked Sen. John McCain how he would engage in international climate talks.

by Al Kamen--

"John McCain hasn't been making it a habit of late to play up his old support for action on climate change, but he stunned some conservatives last week when he said that, if elected, he would 'tap' none other than Al Gore for some role in environmental matters.

In an interview with Reuters, McCain was asked if he'd be up front in international talks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. McCain said he would do 'whatever is necessary to try to move forward.' He said he would involve Gore in that effort. 'I would tap him, I would tap people who have been involved in these issues for many years,' McCain said. McCain told Reuters he disagreed with Gore about nuclear energy but added, 'I have great respect for Al Gore.'"

To make your voice heard, send an invitation to the candidates today!

 
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Above Average

Bill McKibben
Posted by Bill McKibben - 10/08/08, 12:40pm

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 they would do to fight it. "[W]e saw that Congress moved pretty fast in the face of an economic crisis," she said. "I want to know what you would do within the first two years to make sure that Congress moves fast as far as environmental issues, like climate change and green jobs."

That's the question. Every thinking person -- even, at this late date, the current resident of the White House -- understands that climate change is real.

You too, can ask the candidates an important question by joining our campaign to invite Obama and McCain to the upcoming UN Climate Meetings in Poland this December -- click here to visit our new rotating globe featuring invitations from around the world.

 
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