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"Hot" topic that cools conversation

Submitted by Robert Brown on Sat, 07/21/2012 - 1:06pm

Bill McKibben has been on a crusade for global warming awareness since the 1980s. It's not a popular topic. This morning I was having a great little chat with an elected representative until I brought up global warming. Eyes soon went right and left and the conversation ended. But we need to be thinking about serious action. Bill McKibben is calling to divest of carbon related stocks. That's pretty serious. Here's his latest article in Rolling Stone - a good, sobering read: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new...

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350.org rocks

Submitted by scharrison on Sat, 07/21/2012 - 5:45pm.

And yes, it is a tough topic of conversation. Even those people who do believe in the anthropogenic roots of climate change would rather not contemplate actually doing something about it.

They're going to wait, just like the idiot deniers, until there's irrefutable proof. Problem is, that will be somewhere on the wrong side of the irreversible point.

The doing something about it

Submitted by Robert Brown on Tue, 07/24/2012 - 8:17am.

The doing something about it worries people, especially elected leaders. I understand that and I empathize a little. There's no upside to talking too much about a global threat that will take deprivation to deal with. How high can you tell people to set their thermostats in the summer or how high a tax can you put on carbon before people vote you out of office? There are few politicians brave enough to do anything more than pay lip service to global warming. Despite all the mountains of evidence that this train is heading for a wreck, nobody wants to stand up to pull the brake. That's why activists like Bill McKibben are so important. He doesn't have an office to lose and he's not afraid to pull the brake. His call to divest of carbon stocks is an ante up. I'm in.

Thanks for the link, Robert

Submitted by James on Mon, 07/23/2012 - 11:54am.

I'd heard about the RS article from a number of sources but hadn't remembered to read it. Much appreciated.

It's a great article,

Submitted by Robert Brown on Tue, 07/24/2012 - 8:26am.

It's a great article, James.
McKibben did a webcast last night and one of the questions was how to get to the university endowments about divesting. McKibben went to Harvard, which has one of the largest, if not the largest, endowments in the world. Maybe start there. The Duke endowment is fairly large, too.