McKibben stirs audience to action at Warren Wilson College
Photo courtesy of Warren Wilson College
On October 6, environmentalist and author Bill McKibben gave a free public lecture in the Chapel at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C. The lecture was titled, “The Most Important Number on Earth: From Appalachia to the Arctic, a Crisis and a Movement.”
The crowd overflowed the small venue, forcing some of the audience to sit outside in the crisp, fall air and listen to the message via loudspeakers.
As founder and director of the global climate initiative 350.org, McKibben and other organizers created a worldwide campaign for a “global work party,” in which people from all around the world take action for public awareness of climate change. Three-hundred fifty parts per million (ppm) is the safe upper limit for C02 in our atmosphere in order to avoid runaway effects of climate change on Earth’s systems. Unfortunately, the atmosphere currently holds a record high 390ppm.
The work day this year, “10/10/10” took place on October 10, 2010. In addition to promoting awareness, this particular day symbolically encouraged individuals and communities to take a pledge towards cutting carbon by 10% this year by using alternative transportation, planting trees, working in a community garden or eating local food.
The goal of the “work party” day extends beyond changing the current climate situation through small local projects. Ultimately, these days are designed to send a message to politicians and leaders across the globe to encourage them to “get to work” on policies and climate change legislation.
Although hopeful about the over 7,000 events registered in 188 countries as part of the 10/10/10 campaign, McKibben was frank in his discussion of the issue: “there is no guarantee this will work, there is no guarantee anything will work…we are up against the most powerful industry in the world…they stand on the platform that the atmosphere is a dump for them, but maybe we can change things…everywhere on this earth, there are people who will stand up and fight!”
McKibben concluded the lecture with a stirring message about the importance of sustainable living. He announced to a fervently nodding and clapping crowd that, “we cannot do anything the Gospel asks of us if this world is disintegrated… the root [of this problem] is moral.”
By Carrie Stokes, Green Guide Intern