PODCAST: 350.org founder Bill McKibben at the Brattle Theatre [MP3]
There's nothing that anyone reading this post could've done to prevent
the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Someone (or a group of
someones) with a lot of responsibility fucked up, finger pointing
ensued, and in all actuality, people may be better served saving their
breath. The irrevocable damage has been done and one of the richest
ecosystems on our increasingly faltering planet is now tainted beyond repair.
But while
environmentalist Bill McKibben was visibly perturbed by the massive
blunder during his April 30 stop at the Brattle Theatre, he is realistic
in his assessment that it was not the spill that has doomed the Gulf,
but rather, ramifications of capitalism that have long set in motion the
demise of that ecosystem. Offshore drilling has been killing the area
for decades and the spill is just the slick icing on the cake.
McKibben
uses the incident as a teaching point to let us in on a bleak little
secret that also happens to be the basis of his new book, Eaarth:
Making a Life on a Tough New Planet -- we can no longer wait around
for our planet to fall apart to begin making repairs because it's
falling apart now. And is probably already beyond repair.
But
while Al Gore aims for the masses in his pleads for reform and more
often than not falls upon deaf ears, McKibben's target audience isn't
the skeptics. He isn't out to convert the 44% of Americans who still
don't believe global warming is man-made. Rather, he aims to motivate
immediate action amongst those who may not be aware of the dire
circumstances, with his primary channel being 350.org.
Founded in 2007 as an avenue for assembly around the ultimate goal of
cutting carbon dioxide emissions, the grassroots movement has generated a
resounding response thus far, organizing the world's "most
widespread day of political action" on Oct. 24 of last year across
181 countries.
During this podcast that was recorded during his
Brattle appearance, McKibben reads a passage from Eaarth,
questions the motivation behind the decisions of those we generally
refer to as leaders, and fields 20-minutes of questions from an audience
that is seemingly divided between those who think 350.org can make a
difference and those who don't.
DOWNLOAD: Bill McKibben on
"Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet" [MP3]
Recorded
live at the Brattle Theatre, on April 30, 2010; if you enjoyed this
listening to this talk, check out the Brattle Theatre's calendar of upcoming events. To
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