Hi there and welcome to e-mail newsletter #27!

This message goes to my 121 subscribers, with a big Thank you for signing up. If you have not yet explored the OneBeautifulPlanet.org Newsletter archive, check it out. I wrote the first issue in June 2023, and an overview of the weekly newsletter effort at the 100 subscriber milestone a couple of weeks ago.

Bill McKibben

Every week I feature a person, animal, or plant that inspired or intrigued me. It is a moment of reflection and gratitude, meant to find lessons and nurture curiosity. Last week it was the glasswing butterfly, while prior weeks included animals like the axolotl, the albatross, and luminaries such as Carl Sagan and Sylvia Earle.

Over the past several months I became familiar with the work of Bill McKibben. An American environmentalist, author, and journalist, Bill is on par with well-known activists around the world, such as Greta Thunberg, albeit from a different generation. He is a founder of the first worldwide grassroots climate change movement, which has organized 20,000 rallies in every country except North Korea, led the resistance to the Keystone Pipeline, and launched the fossil fuel divestment movement. He has authored a dozen books about the environment, including his first, The End of Nature (1989), about climate change, and Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? (2019), about the state of the environmental challenges facing humanity and future prospects.

A cultural critic, as early as 1992, McKibben pointed out several problems with constant, uncritical media consumption: degeneration of fundamental skills, the fostering of a skewed view of history, the gospel of economic growth, and a destructive misunderstanding of humanity’s place in the universe. Largely due to the constant leisure and distraction that media and the internet afford us, fundamental skills are pushed aside. By fundamental skills, McKibben meant an understanding and ability of how to grow or hunt food, build things, and many other skills mastered over long apprenticeships. As McKibben states, in our modern economy “money supplants skill; its possession allows us to become happily stupid”. These are strong words, yet true to a large degree.

Bill McKibben’s accomplishments and ongoing work are worthy of note, and his impact is profound and felt worldwide. A committed activist, much like his father who in 1971 had been arrested during a protest in support of Vietnam veterans against the war, Bill himself spent three days in jail in Washington, D.C. as a result of his environmental campaign against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project in 2011. Yet two weeks later he was inducted into the literature section of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

A pivotal moment in McKibben's career was the establishment of 350.org, a global grassroots movement aimed at combating the climate crisis. The organizing, worldwide effort drew its name from climate scientist James E. Hansen's contention earlier that winter that any atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) above 350 parts per million was unsafe (we are currently at approx. 416…). His ability to coalesce diverse communities and amplify their collective voices has been key in fostering a global network of climate activists, amplifying the urgency for immediate action on climate change.

He was awarded the Gandhi Peace Award in 2013. Foreign Policy magazine named him to its inaugural list of the 100 most important global thinkers in 2009 and MSN named him one of the dozen most influential men of 2009. In 2010, the Boston Globe called him "probably the nation's leading environmentalist" and Time magazine book reviewer Bryan Walsh described him as "the world's best green journalist". In 2014, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "mobilizing growing popular support in the USA and around the world for strong action to counter the threat of global climate change."

Beyond his activism, McKibben's commitment to raising awareness extends to his role as an educator. As a scholar in residence at Middlebury College in Vermont, he teaches the next generation of environmental leaders, empowering them with the tools to confront the challenges posed by climate change.  

In September 2021, McKibben launched his most recent initiative, Third Act, a group and campaign for environmental activists aged 60 or older, aiming to take advantage of the demographic's free time and accumulated assets for political pressure on government. Bill is on to something here, as “Experienced Americans” are the fastest-growing part of the population: 10,000 people a day pass the 60-year mark. They have kids and grandkids to fight for and protect, and have lived through enormous positive change early in their lives—the civil rights movement, for instance, or the fight to end massive wars or guarantee the rights of women.

Bill McKibben is an environmentalist whose dedication, advocacy, and leadership continue to be transformational. Through his writings, activism, and educational efforts, he has ignited a global movement. As the world addresses the challenges posed by environmental degradation, McKibben's enduring work and legacy are source of great inspiration for scientists, journalists, and the average person seeking to lighten humanity’s touch on our one, beautiful planet.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_McKibben

• The Great Simplification podcast, Episode 102

• https://psbarnwell.com/2012/11/27/review-the-age-of-missing-information/

Mindset

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward."

— Amelia Earhart

In the Works

On the action front, I have been under the weather this week so only completed a small cleanup in Bucks County, PA. This time I deliberately targeted a meadow area that usually floods and drains into Newtown Creek, a tributary to Neshaminy Creek, itself a tributary to the Delaware River. My goal was to remove litter accumulated after the recent rainstorms and prevent it from making its way further down to larger waterways. Becoming more aware of watershed issues, I recently learned that pollution from stormwater runoff is already the greatest threat to clean water sources.

I also made a new contribution to the environmental cleanup group Keep Virginia Coz, a 501(c)(3) organization that since 2017 has removed over 315,000 lbs. of litter and recyclables from parks, neighborhoods, forests, and shared green spaces. On this note, I started working on a “Partners and Organizations Supported” page on the website. Once complete, it will include links and an overview of the important work of these organizations:

• Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful - PA

• Bucks Beautiful - PA

• Trellis For Tomorrow - PA 

• Responsible Stewardship - TN

• Living Lands & Waters - IL

• Keep Massachusetts Beautiful - MA

• Green Amendments for the Generations - PA

• Glitter - PA

• Keep Virginia Cozy - VA

Next week, my last newsletter of the year will include a summary of 2023 - the inaugural year of OneBeautifulPlanet.org ! It will include key metrics I track, such as number of cleanups performed, total litter collected, events organized/attended, website traffic, and number of articles published.

If you found this newsletter helpful or interesting, please share with your friends, contacts, and anyone you know who may benefit from following my journey. Let’s gain some knowledge, and take action toward a cleaner, healthier world!

Thank you.

Razvan