The Battle for the Future of Planet Earth

Here’s an excerpt from legendary environmentalist Bill McKibben’s appearance on Democracy Now! earlier today, in which he points out how insane our civilization’s response is to climate change.

ConocoPhillips, which is developing that ill-begotten project up in the Arctic, has tens of billions of dollars of loans from the banks that we’re talking about. The (big banks) keep funneling them money so that they can do these kind of projects. And, I mean, that one is just absolutely emblematic of the insanity. They’re going to have to literally refreeze the ground up there before they’re able to — the ground that they have melted, before they’re able to drill again for yet more oil.

But it’s not just up in the Arctic. Look at what’s happening in Africa. Cyclone Freddy blows across Malawi, leaving huge devastation, while Total, the French energy giant, and others are busy trying to build a giant oil pipeline across the heart of Africa. This is — as the IPCC said yesterday, this is really the battle for the future of planet Earth.

McKibben, however, is not giving up, noting that people of all ages are protesting this lunacy in numbers never before seen, and divesting from fossil fuel companies as well.

I had the honor of meeting him at a Bioneers conference pre-pandemic; he is quite a powerhouse.