Bill McKibben

Frequent Mountainfilm in Telluride guest Bill McKibben recently wrote a piece for Rolling Stone Magazine that he considers the most important thing he has written in 20 years. The piece re-contextualizes the way we look at the carbon we put in the air and how it affects our climate.

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.

Bill McKibben of 350.org finds inspiration in Tim DeChristopher’s message, which he summaries as “Do more. Dig deeper. Don’t be afraid.” McKibben’s Orion blog, “Dig Deeper,” discusses how the environmental movement had lost impact and needed new tactics. With climate change as the current challenge, the timing for the environmental movement’s power loss was unfortunate, but DeChristopher’s actions have enlivened the cause and sparked activism on new levels.

For more from Orion about Tim DeChristopher, check out Terry Tempest Williams’ interview, “What Love Looks Like.”

Looking back at 2011, this has certainly been the year of the protester, something that Time Magazine crystalized with its Person of the Year issue. Of course the magazine rightly mentions the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street movements, but they neglected to write about one of the most significant protesters of the year: Tim DeChristopher. DeChristopher is currently serving two years in prison for disrupting a federal auction of land for natural gas and oil drilling.

From Festival Director David Holbrooke:

Mountainfilm 2009 and 2011 guest Bill McKibben has become one of the leading environmental writers and activists, organizing the recent Keystone XL protest at the White House. He recently published an op-ed in The Washington Post about the connection between climate change and extreme weather events. Now filmmaker Stephen Thomson has combined McKibben's words with striking footage of the events he writes about. The result is powerful.

Tornadoes, fires, floods, crop failures—they’re all isolated events, right? This powerful video from Bill McKibben and Stephen Thomson helps connect the dots of the climate catastrophe.

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?

There has been a flurry of social media around Tim DeChristopher's trial. Here is a roundup of some of the most poignant quotes that have made their way round the web in the past few days:

From Terry Tempest Williams' Facebook page:

Last day of DeChristopher trial. I keep writing "trail" instead of "trial." Whatever happens today in terms of verdict, this conversation will continue. Tim remains calm, cool, and centered. He is carrying the burden. Proof is our beautiful, broken planet.

From Bill McKibben:

Thinking of @DeChristopher as trial hour nears. And thinking of Ed Abbey, who's standing up in his grave, fist raised

From Jamie Henn, 350.org Co-founder and Communications Director: