Bill McKibben has been one of the leading voices sounding the alarm on climate change for 30 years.
He is the author of 1989’s “The End of Nature” and two dozen other books. His writing has also appeared in the New Yorker and Rolling Stone. He will give a free talk in Aspen on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Limelight, part of the Aspen U speaker series presented by Aspen Skiing Co. McKibben is also a founder of the group 350.org.
“It is hard to overstate McKibben’s importance in the climate movement, but it’s also hard to overstate his humanity, which comes in the form of a wide-eyed fascination with the world and the people in it,” says a press release announcing his appearance.
In a preview of his Aspen visit, McKibben answered a few of Aspen Daily News’ questions via email, presented below in question-and-answer format.
ADN: Given the subject matter of your talk concerning inability of governments/institutional actors to curb carbon emissions or respond to the climate crisis, what are the primary things humanity can do to avoid catastrophe?
BM: Well, we’re past the point where doing things as individuals (though always the right thing to do) can move the math. We need, broadly speaking, big action from the two power centers in our society: government and finance.
ADN: What are the first steps you would recommend a new U.S. president, or any other world leader, take to meaningfully address climate?
BM: A new president can accomplish a fair amount by executive action (which is good, because the Senate remains difficult terrain). Most crucially, she or he could establish “keep it in the ground” policies that would end drilling and mining on federal land and make it much harder to build new pipelines and so on. In addition, she or he could reinstate the Obama-era clean air rules, and reinstate the Paris climate accords. These are all useful steps, but massive change awaits passage of something like the Green New Deal.
ADN: More specific to being members of a privileged society such as Aspen, should the members of such societies prepare themselves for a decline in their standard of living? Should we bet on a future where meat eating is rare and our consumption activities are based on a belt-tightening carbon budget?
BM: I think for the moment the key thing that affluent people can do is use their economic leverage. The big banks and asset managers are key parts of this problem, forever lending money and underwriting the fossil fuel industry. That’s why we’ve started stopthemoneypipeline.com — check out the new Jane Fonda video that dropped this week and you’ll get some sense. I’m coming to Aspen because that’s where a lot of money lives, and we have to move a lot of money.
ADN: What do you think the implications of the 21st century climate crisis will be for vacation destinations such as Aspen? Do you think leisure tourism will still be a thing in 25 or 50 years?
BM: I think the deeper question is, will there be snow on the ground in Aspen in the winter in 25 or 50 years? And what will the fire scenarios look like? How deep will the droughts go?
ADN: What is the long-term solution that would allow a place like Aspen to continue to thrive, in a world where carbon emissions are limited? Are we awaiting a technological breakthrough that will replace jet fuel and heat for our buildings with something carbon neutral, or do you believe we have (or are on the verge of having) the technology to make the math work, but lack the political/institutional will?
BM: We’re getting better at delivering energy from close to home — sun and wind. Aspen, obviously, could thrive on these. Jet travel is a lot harder. It’s possible we’ll be moving, in some ways, toward a more local world, which would mean Aspenites would have their beautiful place more to themselves, I guess!
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January 25, 2020 at 05:00PM
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McKibben: Stopping the money pipeline is key to climate action - Aspen Daily News
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