350.org

Bill McKibben and his hardworking cohorts at 350.org have good reason to celebrate: President Obama rejected a permit for the Keystone pipeline (see McKibben’s reaction below). There are many arguments to be made about this particular pipeline in regard to the environment, but the overarching issue to appreciate is that the President demonstrated that it's time to quit supporting a dependence on oil — regardless of where it originates.

For those worried about jobs and other issues related to the pipeline, read Robert Redford’s blog in the Huffington Post that takes these quarrels to task.

Moving Planet is a day to put our demands for climate action into motion—marching, biking, skating—calling for the world to go beyond fossil fuels. This past weekend, at over 2,000 events in 175+ countries, we let leaders know that a movement is rising to move our planet forward to a clean energy future.

In Telluride, TNCC put together another fantastic event (some of the attendees are pictured above). Among the many other interesting presentations, Mountainfilm in Telluride provided a screening of Pete McBride's film Chasing Water.

From Bill McKibben:

Big news in the climate change movement: 350.org and 1Sky have joined forces.

From 350.org:

Together, we're smarter, bolder, faster, and more creative than we were before.

Together, we're able to do things we couldn't have done alone.

Together, we will turn the tide on the climate crisis, and build an unstoppable movement for change.

From Grist:

It is possible to rally passion. Both 1Sky and 350.org have demonstrated the ability to find and energize a new generation of environmental supporters, one that crosses all demographic and linguistic boundaries. Together, as the new 350.org, we'll be speaking with one voice. Shouting, actually — trying to drown out the talk from dirty energy and dirty money.

350.org launched a new campaign recently called the "US Chamber Doesn't Speak For Me" to "show that when it comes to climate and energy, the US Chamber of Commerce represents the interests of big polluters, not everyday American business."

Bill McKibben, 350.org founder, wrote a great article in response to attacks on the campaign in the Washington Post:

The Chamber of Commerce spends more money than anyone else lobbying Congress. They dropped hundreds of thousands on the last state elections in Wisconsin, all of it for the side now standing up for union-busting, I mean human freedom.

So what's the goal of the campaign?

Getting more and more businesses and local Chambers of Commerce to stand up and say, "the US Chamber of Commerce doesn't speak for me." Businesses like Apple, PG&E and Microsoft who have all quit the U.S. Chamber due to its climate policy. And what will the result be?