Soon to be a common sight in the future? A Russian girl wears a mask to protect herself from the forest fire smog in Moscow on August 4, 2010. Russia's worst heatwave for decades shows no sign of relenting, officials warned as firefighters battled hundreds of wildfires in a national disaster. ANDREY SMIRNOV | AFP\/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
350.org co-founder Bill McKibben write the article below on how to change the dynamics of the climate debate in our country. They want it spread around, so here it is. It should probably be published in every newspaper in the country. Why isn’t McKibben a syndicated columnist? If only the general public was interested enough to read articles like this. They are the people who need to read these articles, not McKibben’s many already-fans.<\/p>\n
We’re Hot as Hell and We’re Not Going to Take It Any More<\/p>\n
Bill McKibben,\u00a0TomDispatch regular and author of the invaluable new book,\u00a0Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, assesses our national moment in the heat and just how wilted we\u2019ve seemed to be.. . . . <\/p>\n
\n Three Steps to Establish a Politics of Global Warming
\n By\u00a0Bill McKibben<\/p>\n
Try to fit these facts together:<\/p>\n
*\u00a0According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the planet has just come through the warmest decade, the warmest 12 months, the warmest six months, and the warmest April, May, and June on record.<\/p>\n
* A \u201cstaggering\u201d new\u00a0study from Canadian researchers has shown that warmer seawater has reduced phytoplankton, the base of the marine food chain, by 40% since 1950.<\/p>\n
*\u00a0Nine nations have so far set their all-time temperature records in 2010, including Russia (111 degrees), Niger (118), Sudan (121), Saudi Arabia and Iraq (126 apiece), and Pakistan, which also set the\u00a0new all-time Asia record in May: a hair under 130 degrees. I can turn my oven to 130 degrees.<\/p>\n
* And then, in late July, the U.S. Senate decided to do exactly nothing about climate change. They didn\u2019t do less than they could have — they did\u00a0nothing, preserving a perfect two-decade bipartisan record of no action. Senate majority leader Harry Reid decided not even to schedule a vote on legislation that would have capped carbon emissions.<\/p>\n
I wrote the first book for a general audience on global warming back in 1989, and I\u2019ve spent the subsequent 21 years working on the issue. I\u2019m a mild-mannered guy, a Methodist Sunday School teacher. Not quick to anger. So what I want to say is: this is fucked up. The time has come to get mad, and then to get busy.<\/p>\n
For many years, the lobbying fight for climate legislation on Capitol Hill has been led by a collection of the most corporate and moderate environmental groups, outfits like the Environmental Defense Fund. We owe them a [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Soon to be a common sight in the future? A Russian girl wears a mask to protect herself from the forest fire smog in Moscow on August 4, 2010. Russia's worst heatwave for decades shows no sign of relenting, officials … Continue reading