By Bill McKibben, Cross-Posted from Planet Green

For the last 20 years or so, there's been a reasonable excuse for not building a movement big and tough enough to tackle climate change: It had no chance. Washington was filled with such obstructionists that everybody knew meaningful change on a scale large enough to dent the carbon concentration in the atmosphere was pretty much doomed.

Well, we screwed up that excuse last November. With the advent of the Obama administration , there was suddenly at least the possibility of real change. It's populated by people who believe in science, who think about the future instead of obsessing over the past, and who even believe in working with other countries.

But it would be utterly foolish to imagine they can do what they need to do by themselves.

For one thing, the scale of change required is so massive it must frighten even Barack. Look, in the last couple of years the science has been unremittingly dark. We now know that global warming is not a future problem—that it's crashing over our heads right now. We know that from the evidence around us: the melting Arctic ice, the rapidly dying forests of the north, the spike in methane releases from beneath the tundra. And we know it from our best scientists: James Hansen and his team at NASA have said, unequivocally, that any concentration of carbon in the atmosphere greater than 350 parts per million is not compatible with the planet "on which civilization developed and to which life is adapted." That's Not Good News, since the current level is 387 parts per million and rising. That's Not Good News because it means that we need to move very, very fast—Hansen's data indicates that if the planet hasn't stopped burning coal by 2030, we'll overwhelm the planet's systems and never get back where we need to go.

So we have a target—350 parts per million—and we have a political process, not only in this country, but internationally. It will culminate in December in Copenhagen, when the world’s leaders get together to sign a new treaty. At the moment it looks weak and tepid, but if we build a movement we can change that. We can scare some leaders, and we can open some political space for those, like Obama, who really want to do something.

But we can't do it without you. On October 24, we're organizing demonstrations and rallies and events in every corner of the planet to spread that 350 number—to set the bar for those Copenhagen talks Copenhagen Climate Congress to Synthesize New Science on Climate.... There will be climbers high in the Himalayas, and scuba divers on the Great Barrier Reef, and even a rally on Easter Island. But we need thousands more, including one in your community. It doesn’t need to be huge, but it does need to be clever. Check out the ideas people are hatching at 350.org, and by October turn yourself into an honest-to-God organizer. Because we're not going to solve this one light bulb at a time, but we just might if we can build one light-filled, light-hearted, lightning-fast movement.

I'm sitting across from Kirsty Schneeberger at the UN Climate Sessions in Bonn, Germany.  She's had a big 24 hours.  Yesterday at 6pm, she found out that she had been nominated to deliver a speech to the United Nations Climate Plenary Session.  Picture a room filled with 300 people, and then picture little placards in front of most of them with the titles, "United States," "Sudan," "China." 

Of course, the speech had yet to be written, and of course, to get it just so, Kirsty needed to be involved so that it was written in her own words.  That meant a late night of drafting (12pm) and then an early morning of editing (6am). 

And then, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change isn't exactly well-structured to allow lots of non-delegate interventions.  So Kirsty needed to sit, from 10am until 1pm, waiting to be called upon at any moment to speak, unsure if she would speak at all.

But she did!  And it was awesome.  Her theme is youth, and the idea of intergenerational justice in the climate deal. Here's a rough clip from one of our other friends here in Bonn - turn up the volume on this one - it was taken on a small digital camera (ah, technology).  Things are exciting here and Bonn, and the applause Kirsty gets shows the burning desire many delegates and advocates in the room have for stronger targets, fairer mechanisms, and the youth who will implement the deal that comes out of these negotiations for their entire working lives.

How old will you be in 2050?

Thanks, Kirsty!

click below for the full text.

OK, I'll be honest--I had resolved to post this video long before I even saw the 350 mention at the 2:50 mark.  It's just too cool not to pass on.  In this 5 minute talk, inventor Saul Griffith unveils his new gigantic kite turbines that can create an incredible amount of clean, renewable energy.

There's a curious 350 nod at the 2:50 mark.  At this point in the talk, it appears that Saul Griffith is referencing Al Gore's widely covered endorsement of the 350 target.  However, he shows 3 numbers on the screen: 550, 450, and 350.  550 has a big X through it--but 450 and 350 do not.  He then says "Al Gore has spoken as to why we need tho hit one of these targets."

Perhaps after he says that, he clicks his clicker and draws an X through 450 as well?  It's impossible to tell, as the camera cuts away from the screen at this point. 

One thing is for sure though: Saul Griffith's conclusion about urgent need to make MASSIVE amounts of clean, cheap, renewable energy. That becomes much easier with a strong international treaty grounded in the latest climate science--so we'll keep the movement building at 350.org...