---
title: Bill McKibben
date: 2014-01-09T18:59:00Z
modified: 2019-04-09T17:34:17Z
permalink: "https://350.org/bill/"
type: page
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 31269
author: The 350.org Team
---
## Summary
Bill McKibben is an author, environmentalist, and activist. In 1988 he wrote _The End of Nature_, the first book for a common audience about global warming. He is a co-founder and Senior Advisor at 350.org, an international climate campaign that works in 188 countries around the world.
## Quick Links
[Upcoming Appearances and Events](https://billmckibben.com/appearances.html) (on [billmckibben.com](https://www.billmckibben.com))
[Bill McKibben’s Biography](#bio)
[Photos](#Photos)
[Editorials, Op-Eds, and Interviews](#editorials)
---
**Bill McKibben’s Biography**
Bill McKibben is an author and environmentalist who in 2014 was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the ‘alternative Nobel.’ 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 a dozen more books. He is a founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate change movement, which has organized twenty thousand rallies around the world in every country save North Korea, spearheaded the resistance to the Keystone Pipeline, and launched the fast-growing fossil fuel divestment movement.
The Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he was the 2013 winner of the Gandhi Prize and the Thomas Merton Prize, and holds honorary degrees from 18 colleges and universities. _Foreign Policy_ named him to their inaugural list of the world’s 100 most important global thinkers, and the Boston Globe said he was “probably America’s most important environmentalist.”
A former staff writer for the New Yorker, he writes frequently for a wide variety of publications around the world, including the _New York Review of Books_, _National Geographic,_ and _Rolling Stone_. He lives in the mountains above Lake Champlain with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern, where he spends as much time as possible outdoors . In 2014, biologists honored him by naming a new species of woodland gnat— _Megophthalmidia mckibbeni_–in his honor.
For more information, please visit: [www.billmckibben.com](https://www.billmckibben.com)
**Photos of Bill**
Photo Credit: Nancie Battaglia. [Click here for a high-res version of this image](https://billmckibben.com/Publicity/BillMcKibben(photocreditNancieBattaglia)-HighRes.jpg)
Photo Credit: Steve Liptay. [Click here for a high-res version of this image](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8058/8233822916_812d42a2c3_o.jpg)
[
](https://www.350.org/sites/all/files/McKibben_Nancy_Battaglia_2009.jpg)Photo Credit: Nancie Battaglia.[ Click here for a high-res version of this image](https://www.middlebury.edu/media/view/450282/original/mckibben_nancy_battaglia_2009.jpg)
**Selected Editorials & Op-Eds**
- May 21, 2014, Bill McKibben, _Rolling Stone,_ “[A Call to Arms: An Invitation to Demand Action on Climate Change](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/a-call-to-arms-an-invitation-to-demand-action-on-climate-change-20140521)“
- Dec 17, 2013, Bill McKibben, _Rolling Stone,_ “[Obama and Climate Change: The Real Story”](https://https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obama-and-climate-change-the-real-story-20131217)
- Oct 27, 2013, Bill McKibben, _TomDispatch,_ “[X-Ray of a Flagging Presidency](https://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175765/)“
- Aug 18, 2013, Bill McKibben, _TomDispatch_, “[Movements Without Leaders](https://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175737/)“
- May 30, 2013, Bill McKibben, _The Guardian,_ “[It’s Time to Stop Investing in the Fossil Fuel Industry](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/30/fossil-fuel-divestment-climate-change)“
- Apr 8, 2013, Bill McKibben, _Salon_, “[Will Democrats Destroy the Planet?](https://www.salon.com/2013/04/08/tk_5_partner_7/)“
- Oct 30, 2012, Bill McKibben, _New Republic_, “[After Sandy, a Climate Change Conversation? Dream On](https://www.newrepublic.com/article/109385/after-hurricane-sandy-climate-change-conversation-dream)“
- July 19, 2012, Bill McKibben, _Rolling Stone,_ “[Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719)“
- May, 2012, Bill McKibben, _Solutions Journal,_ “[It’s Time to Fight the Status Quo](https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/1095)“
- May 3, 2012, Bill McKibben, _TomDispatch,_ “[Too Hot Not to Notice?](https://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175537)“
- Feb 7, 2012, Bill McKibben, _Huffington Post,_ “[The Great Carbon Bubble](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-mckibben/the-great-carbon-bubble_b_1259782.html)“
- Oct 3, 2011, Bill McKibben, _The New York Times,_ “[The Cronyism Behind a Pipeline for Crude](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/opinion/the-cronyism-behind-a-pipeline-for-crude.html?_r=2&)“
- Sept 28, 2011, Bill McKibben, _Rolling Stone_, “[The Keystone Pipeline Revolt: Why Mass Arrests are Just the Beginning](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-keystone-pipeline-revolt-why-mass-arrests-are-just-the-beginning-20110928)“
- June 27, 2011, Bill McKibben, _New Republic,_ “[Canada and its Tar Sands: What the Country Can Learn from Brazil About Protecting the Environment](https://www.newrepublic.com/article/environment-and-energy/90730/canada-tar-oil-brazil-climate)“
- June, 2011, Bill McKibben, _National Geographic,_ “[Can China Go Green?”](https://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/green-china/mckibben-text)
- Aug 18, 2010, Bill McKibben, _The Guardian,_ “[Why has extreme weather failed to heat up the climate debate?](https://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/aug/18/extreme-weather-climate-debate)“
- Aug 4, 2010, Bill McKibben, _TomDispatch_, “[We’re hot as hell and we’re not going to take it any more.](https://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175281/tomgram%3A_bill_mckibben,_a_wilted_senate_on_a_heating_planet/)“
- Aug 4, 2010, Bill McKibben, _LA Times,_ “[It’s time to talk, and act, tough.](https://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/04/opinion/la-oe-mckibben-climate-20100804)“
- Feb 24, 2010, Bill McKibben, _LA Times,_ “[The O.J. tactic.](https://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/24/opinion/la-oe-mckibben25-2010feb25)“
- Oct 19, 2009, Bill McKibben and Chip Giller, _Grist_, “[Day of Climate Action Shows Power of Web Organizing](https://www.grist.org/article/2009-10-19-day-of-climate-action-shows-power-of-web-organizing)“
- Sept 9, 2009, Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. & Bill McKibben, _The Nation_, “[People, Let’s Get Our Carbon Down](https://www.thenation.com/doc/20090928/yearwood_mckibben)”
- Nov 6, 2008, Bill McKibben, _The Guardian_, “[Welcome to Reality, Mr. President Elect](https://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/06/network-uselections2008)“
- June 23, 2008 Bill McKibben, _Washington Post_ [“End of the Open Road”](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/22/AR2008062201551.html)
- May 11, 2008, Bill McKibben, _LA Times_, “[Civilization’s Last Chance](https://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-op-mckibben11-2008may11,0,2392815.story)“
**Selected Interviews**
Feb 7, 2014, [_Bill Moyers: Bill McKibben to Obama: Say No to Big Oil_](https://billmoyers.com/episode/bill-mckibben-to-obama-say-no-to-big-oil/)
Oct 30, 2013, _[Open Democracy: Time for the Climate Movement to Get on the Front Foot](https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/adam-ramsay-bill-mckibben/bill-mckibben-interview-time-for-climate-movement-to-get-on-fro)_
Oct 2, 2013, [_Morning Joe: One Man’s Journey from Writer to Activist_](https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/one-mans-journey-from-writer-to-activist-51957315604)
Sept 18, 2013, [_Democracy Now!: Obama Can Salvage His Climate Legacy by Rejecting Keystone XL Pipeline_](https://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/18/bill_mckibben_obama_can_salvage_his)
Dec 30, 2012, [_NPR: 2013: A Tipping Year for Climate Change?_ ](https://www.npr.org/2012/12/30/168310474/2012-a-tipping-year-for-climate-change)
Nov 29, 2012, [_Huffington Post: Bill McKibben on Divestment From Fossil Fuels_](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-butterfield/bill-mckibben-do-the-math_b_2201817.html)
Oct 29, 2012, [_Salon: Bill McKibben does the Sandy Math_](https://www.salon.com/2012/10/29/bill_mckibben_does_the_sandy_math/)
June 27, 2012, [_Democracy Now!: Bill McKibben of 350.org on Colorado Wildfires, Debby, Keystone XL and the Failure of Rio+20_](https://www.democracynow.org/2012/6/27/bill_mckibben_of_350org_on_colorado)
Apr 17, 2012, [_Truthout: The Climate Movement Takes On Fracking: Interview with Bill McKibben_](https://truth-out.org/opinion/item/8518-the-climate-movement-takes-on-fracking-interview-with-bill-mckibben)
Nov 14, 2011, [_Colbert Report: The Keystone XL Oil Pipeline_ ](https://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/402223/november-14-2011/keystone-xl-oil-pipeline---bill-mckibben)
Aug 17, 2010_, [_Triple Pundit Talks to Bill McKibben_](https://www.triplepundit.com/2010/08/triplepundit-talks-to-bill-mckibben/comment-page-1/)_
Aug 5, 2010_, [_Speaking of Faith: Bill McKibben, the Moral Math of Climate Change_](https://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2010/moral-math/)_
June 7, 2010, [_NPR: Environmentalists to Obama ‘Seize the Moment,’ an interview with Bill McKibben_](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127542495)
May 26, 2010, [_PRI: The Take Away, Gulf Coast Oil Spill: Just a Reminder, an interview with Bill McKibben_](https://www.pri.org/business/nonprofits/gulf-coast-oil-spill-just-a-reminder2014.html)
Apr 30, 2010, [_Bill McKibben on NPR’s On Point_](https://www.onpointradio.org/2010/04/bill-mckibbens-eaarth-warning)
Apr 15, 2010, [_Bill McKibben on Democracy Now_](https://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/15/mckibben)
Apr 13, 2010, [_Bill McKibben on MarketPlace_](https://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/04/13/pm-eaarth-new-reality-q/)
Aug 17, 2009, _[Bill McKibben on the Colbert Report](https://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/246941/august-17-2009/bill-mckibben)_