Bill McKibben, Do the Math

by Michael Sobczak

Nancie Battaglia

As we move beyond the hard fought battlefields of our countrys last general election we hear a persistent voice crying out among the scarred Earth. Do the Math, the voice calls both in a thoughtful whisper and with a louder heightened sense of urgency. The voice is of Bill McKibben, perhaps Americas foremost Environmentalist. His urgent words call us to not forget the Earth, to keep marching and to be ever vigilant.

Bill McKibben is on a nationwide Do the Math tour that started the day after the November 6th election in Seattle -- dashing along the West Coast in Julia Butterfly Hills bio diesel bus, then jumping down the East Coast before turning towards Americas Heartland and arriving in Boulder, Colorado on December 2nd with one more climb across the mountains to finish in Salt Lake City.

Why is Do the Math important?

350.org

Bill McKibben, an environmentalist, journalist, professor, author, founded 350.org. -- an organization named largely from the scientist James Hansens assertion that we need to keep the Earths atmosphere at 350 parts per million Carbon Dioxide. Presently were at about 390 ppm; prior to the Industrial Revolution we were at approximately 280 ppm; and the Earth hasnt been at our current high level in the past since150 thousand years ago.

McKibben thinks there are three more very important numbers out there in addition to 350. These numbers are 2 degrees C, 565 gigatons and 2795 gigatons.

Bill McKibben and other environmentalists felt disappointment after the Climate conferences in Kyoto, Japan and Copenhagen, Denmark. No enforcement mechanisms nor stricter greenhouse gas curbing agreements materialized. McKibben thinks that the only thing the world settled on about climate change was the sense that we are not to go past a 2 degree C overall planetary warming.

This leads to the second number. Scientists estimate that humans can pour roughly 565 more gigatons of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere by mid century and still have some reasonable hope of staying below two degrees, McKibben says. However, he has made the analogy of this reasonable hope as having lower odds than playing Russian Roulette with a six shooter (or 1 chance in five).

Bill McKibben cites 2795 gigatons as the amount of oil and gas on the books as available sources to burn. And the key point, McKibben points out, is that this number -- 2795 -- is higher than 565. Five times higher.

These numbers originate from a noteworthy 2011 report put out by the Carbon Tracker Initiative (www.carbontracker.org/carbonbubble) based in London that McKibben and his friend Naomi Klein read last spring and were struck by their importance. McKibben says, Were already burned enough carbon to raise the thermometer almost 1 degree with disastrous effects. At the current rate, well have burned enough additional carbon in the next 16 years to propel us over the 2 degree line this century.

A little more about Bill McKibben, 350.org and Step it Up

Before Bill McKibben started up 350.org in 2009, he founded Step it Up back in 2006 after a successful collective five day walk across Vermont, the largest climate change related demonstration to date. Step it Up aimed at putting pressure on our law makers with a common message of 80% (Renewables) by 2050. They led a successful day of action on April 14, 2007 -- holding some 3,000 rallies in all 50 states. Step it Up2 followed with the added goals of 10% reduction of emissions in 3 years, a moratorium of new coal fired power plants, and calls for Green Jobs Now and No New Coal.

Allison Chin

With increased insights from science, the newly formed 350.org became more worried about 2020 and more fixated on keeping carbon in the ground, while not losing sight that 80% by 2050 is still the place the world needed to go. They led a world-wide day of action on October 24, 2009 with 5,200 simultaneous actions in 181 countries, followed by a Global Work Party on 10/10/10 with 7,000 events in 188 countries. More recently Bill McKiibben and 350.org led the fight in protesting the Keystone XL pipeline -- the 1,700 mile conduit from the tar sands of northern Canada to the refineries of the Gulf Coast. This proved to be a massive environmental fight with one of the largest civil disobedience actions America has seen in the last 30 years. Bill McKibben spent three days in jail and hundreds of other activists were arrested during the multi-day rallies where protesters, standing four to five deep, wrapped a darkened plastic pipeline around the White House.

Boulder Stop of Do the Math

Win Goodbody

Do the Math tour is about keeping the fire lit under the environmental movement and not sending the troops home after the battles of the last election. The tour arose as an offshoot of McKibbens Rolling Stone article, Global Warmings Terrifying New Math(http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/globalwarmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719?link=mostpopular2 ), which appeared in Julys issue and is one of the magazines most widely read stories. Bill McKibben said, Climate Change is the moral issue of our time. And organizers of the tour hope to spark a fossil fuel divestment movement similar to what took place to end apartheid in South Africa at colleges and universities across the country. Archbishop Desmond Tutu is joining the tour via video to talk about some of his experiences in South Africa and utilizing the same kinds of tactics that worked there. When talking about this next great moral issue we face Tutu said, Companies dont have to have an interest in the moral issue, but they do have an interest in the bottom line.

The tour stops have Bill McKibben talking along with a rotating cast of featured artists, actors and musicians. There will be additional video appearances of Naomi Klein and James Hansen. Be sure to check 350.orgs internet site and the Do the Math page (http://math.350.org/) for the most up-to-date details on the Boulder stop at CU campus and the continuing efforts to combat adverse Climate Change. Latest Update : The Boulder stop has expanded with 2 overflow locations to watch live video streaming: 1) VAC Auditorium (near the UMC map here) on the CU Boulder Campus 2) Unity of Boulder - 2855 Folsom St., Boulder. Doors open at 6pm, show starts at 7pm. Seats are limited so please plan to arrive early. Live video streaming locations are free, but $5 donations are suggested to help us cover streaming costs.