#19: “The Two Great Inventions of the 20th Century” Legendary Environmental Activist Bill McKibben talks to John Dear about this, his new book, Sun Day and more!
#19 Fr. John Dear Talks with Legendary Environmental Activist Bill McKibben
This week, Fr. John Dear speaks with best-selling author and environmental activist and organizer Bill McKibben about catastrophic climate change and how to respond by joining movements, taking to the streets, and building political will. It will be jam packed with inspiration for anyone who supports environmental activism.
“I started life as a writer, I still am a writer. But to win the fight, we're gonna have to take on money and power, that's why we have to organize, and build a movement to change hearts and minds and change power. We keep our humor, our love for each other and our eyes fixed on the future, and on we go!”
He played a leading role in launching the opposition to big oil pipeline projects like Keystone XL, and the fossil fuel divestment campaign, which has become the biggest anti-corporate campaign in history, with endowments worth more than $40 trillion stepping back from oil, gas and coal.
He’s one of the world’s leading environmental activists and founder of 350.org, a global grassroots climate campaign which has organized protests on every continent, including Antarctica, for climate action.
Bill’s 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change and was published in 24 languages. He’s gone on to write 20 books, and his work appears regularly in periodicals from the New Yorker to Rolling Stone. He serves as the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he has won the Gandhi Peace Prize as well as honorary degrees from 20 colleges and universities. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, the alternative Nobel, in the Swedish Parliament.
Hear more about his newest book Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization will be available in August 2025.
Recently, Bill also founded www.ThirdAct.org, a global grassroots movement of people over the age of 60, which has taken off.
During this podcast also he announces the upcoming global day of action for solar power, “Sun Day,” September 21st. "The sun is willing to provide us with all the power we could ever use, but that great gift is a threat to powerful interests." Go to sunday.earth for more about resources, events, organizations and creative partners.
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