99 00:22:57.600 --> 00:23:13.330 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): all right. Hello, everybody, and welcome to citizens. Climate Lobby's June National Call. We're very excited to be coming to. You. Live from the Omni in Washington, DC. Where nearly a thousand climate advocates are joining us for our June conference. 100 00:23:13.500 --> 00:23:28.319 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): This is my first time hosting a national call. So for those of you who don't know me yet. I'm Stephanie Moogia, Ccl. Student engagement manager. I'm a graduate student myself, so it's such a privilege to get to support my collegiate peers as we strive to be better climate advocates. 101 00:23:28.550 --> 00:23:40.559 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): I'm especially looking forward to our call today because we're kicking off a weekend. That is truly a celebration of all of us all our volunteers and friends who are working tirelessly to keep climate solutions front and center. 102 00:23:41.570 --> 00:23:51.039 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): I'd also like to give a shout out and welcome to amazing volunteers all across the country today, and like to start off by welcoming our newest chapter. Huntsville, Alabama. 103 00:23:51.080 --> 00:24:05.059 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): Debbie Chang, who, many of you might know, recently moved from DC. To Hansville and decided to launch a new chapter in her new home. Thank you, Debbie, and to all the Cclers who take us with them when they move to a new place, because it's not the first time this has happened. 104 00:24:05.660 --> 00:24:27.389 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): And of course, this month you've all been very busy in the month of May alone you Cclers generated 115 media articles, held 220 presentations and tabling events in your grassroots outreach and generated 5,756 personal letters or emails to your members of Congress all while gearing up for this conference. 105 00:24:28.020 --> 00:24:30.680 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): So if all of that isn't exciting enough for you. 106 00:24:30.770 --> 00:24:43.219 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): We are joined today by an old friend and ally in our work. Bill Mckibben Bill is an author, educator, and environmentalist who helped found 350 org the first global grassroots climate campaign. 107 00:24:43.400 --> 00:24:52.680 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): More recently he helped found Third Act a progressive organizing movement for people over the age of 60. Bill. Thank you so much for being here. It's truly a pleasure to have you. 108 00:24:52.800 --> 00:24:57.489 Bill McKibben: Well, Stephanie, what a pleasure for me! It really is fun to be with you all. 109 00:24:57.520 --> 00:25:07.900 Bill McKibben: you know. I think I got to speak on what might have been the very first nationwide Ccl. Call many, many, many years ago, and I've 110 00:25:08.110 --> 00:25:17.920 Bill McKibben: admired and worked with many, many chapters and many points on many things over the years. And what fun to be with you. I'm also especially 111 00:25:17.990 --> 00:25:33.399 Bill McKibben: proud that Madeleine cut at least a couple of her teeth back at 3 50 in Wisconsin, back in the day she moved on from 3 50. I have 2, and now I'm at. 112 00:25:33.420 --> 00:25:37.669 Bill McKibben: We're doing this work at third act, which I'll describe in a little while. 118 00:26:10.340 --> 00:26:30.480 Bill McKibben: We had the official announcement on Thursday from the Federal Government that we're now in an El Nino phase of the Pacific warming cycle for the first time in a number of years, and the consensus at the moment is that it may turn out to be a very strong El Nino. 119 00:26:30.800 --> 00:26:40.709 Bill McKibben: That means we're going to see a record temperature perhaps this year, globally averaged almost certainly in 2,024. 120 00:26:40.830 --> 00:26:52.970 Bill McKibben: It also means we're going to see temperatures approaching or passing for the year that 1.5°C range that we pledged in 121 00:26:53.040 --> 00:26:56.460 Bill McKibben: Paris just 8 years ago to do everything we could to avoid 122 00:26:56.760 --> 00:27:05.580 Bill McKibben: And really, what that means is, we're going to see a lot of crazy things happening because we're pushing this system 123 00:27:05.780 --> 00:27:17.299 Bill McKibben: into completely uncharted territory for human beings as it gets hotter and hotter and hotter, we will see more and more and more of the effects. 124 00:27:17.590 --> 00:27:19.340 Bill McKibben: and that 125 00:27:19.520 --> 00:27:24.730 Bill McKibben: has big bearing on what we're able to accomplish or not politically. 126 00:27:25.110 --> 00:27:33.189 Bill McKibben: and we got a taste of that this week with the second big thing that happened, this stunning 127 00:27:33.570 --> 00:27:40.129 Bill McKibben: for the East Coast outbreak of smoke pouring down from Canadian wildfires. 128 00:27:40.350 --> 00:27:59.080 Bill McKibben: Those wildfires are obviously the product of climate change. It's been extremely hot and extremely dry in Canada. That heat started early in the spring in the west, and Alberta has been dealing with hideous fires. I know some of that territory because it's where the 129 00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:11.200 Bill McKibben: tar sands are located that we've fought so hard over the years and and towns like Fort Chip Hawaiian, where many of the heroes of that fight lived have been evacuated. 130 00:28:11.580 --> 00:28:12.620 Bill McKibben: But that 131 00:28:13.810 --> 00:28:20.530 Bill McKibben: fire spread anomalously to the East very quickly because of this drought and heat. 132 00:28:20.710 --> 00:28:27.850 Bill McKibben: Pretty soon there were truly smoky conditions in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the normally quite wet Maritimes. 133 00:28:28.140 --> 00:28:36.680 Bill McKibben: and then in Interior Quebec, and that's where most of the smoke that cascaded down the east coast. is coming from. 134 00:28:37.020 --> 00:28:53.660 Bill McKibben: There's a kink in the jet stream that's been pushing it down, and, as you know, the funky operation of the jet stream is one of the things that scientists are attributing to the rapid melt of the Arctic. But it'll be a while before we know if that's implicated here or not doesn't really matter. What matters is 135 00:28:54.540 --> 00:28:56.619 Bill McKibben: that really, for the first time 136 00:28:57.590 --> 00:29:10.800 Bill McKibben: the people who reside in the most powerful corridor on earth have been reminded, in a most dramatic way of what people on earth most people on earth live with almost every day. 137 00:29:11.480 --> 00:29:14.580 Bill McKibben: It's not that we haven't had 138 00:29:14.670 --> 00:29:22.160 Bill McKibben: outbreaks of climate trouble in the East before we have Hurricane Sandy being the most dramatic, perhaps. 139 00:29:22.550 --> 00:29:27.050 Bill McKibben: but Relatively speaking. 140 00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:38.530 Bill McKibben: the power corridor of the world that includes Washington and includes Wall Street has been at least a little insulated compared with the rest of the planet. Not this week I was in Washington 141 00:29:38.950 --> 00:29:48.619 Bill McKibben: on Thursday. We were doing big demonstrations and just being outside, you could chew the air. I mean it was grim. 142 00:29:51.030 --> 00:29:52.050 Bill McKibben: What was 143 00:29:53.170 --> 00:29:59.730 Bill McKibben: telling, of course, is that for anybody who's been to New Delhi or Islamabad or Shanghai in recent years 144 00:29:59.940 --> 00:30:03.599 Bill McKibben: they were familiar with that tightness in your chest and that 145 00:30:03.630 --> 00:30:07.529 Bill McKibben: sting in your eyes, because that's what happens every day there 146 00:30:07.760 --> 00:30:17.060 Bill McKibben: in those cases, less the result of wildfire smoke than simply of the combustion of fossil fuel. But combustions combustion, it pours, particulates into the air. 147 00:30:17.220 --> 00:30:24.160 Bill McKibben: This is a good reminder that though we all focus on climate. The other effect of burning fossil fuel 148 00:30:24.310 --> 00:30:26.299 Bill McKibben: is the 149 00:30:27.070 --> 00:30:40.700 Bill McKibben: tremendous attack on the bodies of vulnerable human beings. We now know that about 9 million human beings die a year. That's one death in 5 on this planet 150 00:30:40.840 --> 00:30:50.189 Bill McKibben: from breathing the combustion by products of fossil fuel. And of course we were also reminded this week of the third effect of relying on fossil fuel. 151 00:30:50.330 --> 00:30:59.170 Bill McKibben: which is that if you rely on something that's scarce and only available in a few places. The people who control those places will end up doing 152 00:30:59.290 --> 00:31:11.710 Bill McKibben: with way too much power, which they're very likely to abuse. So you know, in our country. Our biggest oil and gas parents were the Koch brothers. They use their winnings to degrade and deform our democracy 153 00:31:12.080 --> 00:31:22.989 Bill McKibben: in Europe. The biggest oil and gas barons, Vladimir Putin. He used his winnings to launch a land war in Europe in the 20 first century. 154 00:31:23.590 --> 00:31:38.029 Bill McKibben: Losing that war to the brave Ukrainians at the moment he decided this week to blow up a dam and unleash a kind of well. And people are calling it Ecoside. And that seems technically accurate. 155 00:31:38.550 --> 00:31:44.679 Bill McKibben: okay, that's the context. For where we are. 156 00:31:44.810 --> 00:31:54.639 Bill McKibben: we're in a good deal of trouble, and that trouble is going to get worse over the next couple of years as this new heating kicks in 157 00:31:54.740 --> 00:32:06.180 Bill McKibben: and that trouble is probably going to at least allow for the possibility of more political flexibility than we've seen in the past. 158 00:32:06.210 --> 00:32:07.659 Bill McKibben: Let us hope so. 159 00:32:07.770 --> 00:32:14.029 Bill McKibben: because, of course, the other thing that's going on simultaneously that really matters is the 160 00:32:14.060 --> 00:32:18.139 Bill McKibben: tremendous drop in the price of renewable energy. 161 00:32:18.390 --> 00:32:27.459 Bill McKibben: The fact that it's dropped in price, solar power, wind power, the batteries to store them. Something like 90% in the last decade 162 00:32:27.470 --> 00:32:33.329 Bill McKibben: is in parallel with the rising temperature, the most important statistic on our planet. 163 00:32:33.500 --> 00:32:48.739 Bill McKibben: because it means that there is no longer a deep technological or financial obstacle to doing what we need to do. We live on a planet where the cheapest way to produce power is to point a sheet of glass at the sun. 164 00:32:49.270 --> 00:32:55.940 Bill McKibben: That is a remarkable change. And So what's happening now? 165 00:32:56.210 --> 00:33:08.440 Bill McKibben: people are saying that I'm not speaking loud enough, and I'm sorry I'm I. Why, it's one more good reason why it's good to have young people involved in this movement. 166 00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:12.930 Bill McKibben: They have a little more volume than the rest of us. 167 00:33:13.120 --> 00:33:15.290 Bill McKibben: at any rate. 168 00:33:15.840 --> 00:33:23.460 Bill McKibben: That rapid fall in the price means that we could move quickly. But of course we're not moving quickly enough. 169 00:33:23.660 --> 00:33:47.990 Bill McKibben: even with the passage of the Ira, which provided some money, and which has begun to push us in the right direction. We're still way behind the 8 ball. The intergovernmental Panel on Climate change, as you know, has told us that we need to cut emissions in half by 2,030 to have a chance of staying on those Paris target pathways by my watch. 2,030 is 170 00:33:48.810 --> 00:33:51.580 Bill McKibben: well, about 6 years and 6 months away. 171 00:33:51.730 --> 00:34:08.779 Bill McKibben: So that's what one presidential electoral cycle, 3 Congressional cycles. you know 24 quarters, as the business people count them. We've got to move with great dispatch. 172 00:34:09.290 --> 00:34:18.729 Bill McKibben: and as always, it's not easy, and we know the reasons that it's not easy. One is inertia, which is always a force in human affairs. 173 00:34:18.780 --> 00:34:37.109 Bill McKibben: but the other the deadly one. Here is the incredible power of vested interest, the ongoing determination of the fossil fuel industry to maintain its business model one way or another, even at the cost of breaking the planet, which is clearly the cost. 174 00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:47.979 Bill McKibben: so our jobs are to figure out how to disrupt that business model and allow us to move quickly where it's possible to go. 175 00:34:48.600 --> 00:35:00.390 Bill McKibben: There's different parts to that. One of those parts is to figure out how to be using a lot less energy, because that's usually the cheapest, lowest hanging fruit here. 176 00:35:00.680 --> 00:35:15.149 Bill McKibben: I live in rural America, and I've lived here all my life, which means that I know that on a winter's day you know too many of my neighbors in Vermont are heating the out of doors. You can see the 177 00:35:15.310 --> 00:35:25.079 Bill McKibben: keep waves coming off the roofs of houses. It is the simplest and cheapest option. 178 00:35:25.340 --> 00:35:45.390 Bill McKibben: and the most humane for our neighbors to help them through that, to insulate those homes to do the rudimentary energy efficiency work that cuts consumption of energy by a large quantity very fast, and that makes it easier to deploy the renewable energy that we desperately need. 179 00:35:45.660 --> 00:35:54.549 Bill McKibben: And then we get to the second half of that equation which is deploying that quickly enough, and all the things that need to happen. 180 00:35:55.210 --> 00:36:00.740 Bill McKibben: which is hard because 181 00:36:00.930 --> 00:36:03.919 Bill McKibben: vested interest, and also 182 00:36:04.070 --> 00:36:12.080 Bill McKibben: individual preference for things the way they are get in the way of some of those changes. 184 00:36:15.010 --> 00:36:16.409 Bill McKibben: I'll tell you a story. 185 00:36:16.530 --> 00:36:23.810 Bill McKibben: That I related in the in a piece I wrote, for Mother Jones a a month or 2 ago. 186 00:36:24.140 --> 00:36:29.360 Bill McKibben: and it dates from 20 some years ago. Now. 187 00:36:29.400 --> 00:36:35.099 Bill McKibben: in my very rural part of the world, there was a proposal for one of the first big wind farms. 188 00:36:35.580 --> 00:36:44.900 Bill McKibben: I'm going to be in the Adirondack Mountains in a place where I've lived in the landscape. I love enormously. 189 00:36:45.500 --> 00:36:49.270 Bill McKibben: And it was a very sound proposal. 190 00:36:49.710 --> 00:36:59.900 Bill McKibben: but the local environmental group decided that they were opposed to it and managed to in the end, after all the procedural 191 00:37:00.120 --> 00:37:05.849 Bill McKibben: tools they had in their quiver defeat it, and it's never been built. And so that wind 192 00:37:06.330 --> 00:37:11.000 Bill McKibben: blows without helping turn on lights and 193 00:37:11.070 --> 00:37:16.000 Bill McKibben: cook food and drive cars and all the other things that electricity can now do. 194 00:37:16.470 --> 00:37:28.179 Bill McKibben: that I've fought hard to get that built. And it began a long time ago helping me understand some of the things that we're going to need to do. 195 00:37:28.580 --> 00:37:41.930 Bill McKibben: The first of those set of things, and these are what I wrote about in Mother Jones is, help talk to our neighbors and friends to persuade them not to stand in the way of everything all the time. 196 00:37:42.300 --> 00:37:56.330 Bill McKibben: That piece was really, as I said, written for other people like me, old white guys who are really good at blocking things. we should be thinking differently than we have been. 197 00:37:56.370 --> 00:38:02.949 Bill McKibben: and I hope that you'll share some of these ideas with other people 198 00:38:03.540 --> 00:38:05.679 Bill McKibben: for one 199 00:38:06.710 --> 00:38:25.550 Bill McKibben: you know it's useful to protect your own backyard. That's one of the things we're called upon to do. But we're also required to remember that our backyards are actually connected to the rest of the world. We share a backyard. Such as it is. 200 00:38:25.730 --> 00:38:35.160 Bill McKibben: and for those of us who live in the rich parts of the world that comes with a real moral obligation because we have. 201 00:38:35.630 --> 00:38:39.160 Bill McKibben: Well, we've produced huge amounts of carbon. 202 00:38:39.170 --> 00:38:43.700 Bill McKibben: and in the process we're wrecking the backyards of everybody else around the world. 203 00:38:43.890 --> 00:38:51.500 Bill McKibben: You saw those pictures from Pakistan last fall, and they had the biggest flood since Noah 33 million people 204 00:38:51.680 --> 00:38:53.780 Bill McKibben: displaced 205 00:38:54.920 --> 00:39:03.910 Bill McKibben: Pakistan's put way. Less than 1% of all the carbon up into the atmosphere compared with the 25% that comes from us in this country. 206 00:39:04.450 --> 00:39:21.469 Bill McKibben: Africa's put 2, 3% of all the carbon in the air. They're taking the brunt of climate damage more than any continent on the earth. So you don't get to protect your backyard at the expense of others in a moral world, it seems to me. 207 00:39:21.690 --> 00:39:27.460 Bill McKibben: and we also, by the same token, don't live just in our own particular moment. 208 00:39:27.510 --> 00:39:30.149 Bill McKibben: Someone may think that they have 209 00:39:31.160 --> 00:39:37.179 Bill McKibben: absolved themselves of climate damage by purchasing a Tesla. 210 00:39:37.930 --> 00:39:41.769 Bill McKibben: If you've been driving your whole life, or your parents or your grandparents. 211 00:39:42.060 --> 00:39:52.519 Bill McKibben: you've got a hell of a lot of carbon to make up for it, because it's all still up there. The carbon that came out of the back of my family's Plymouth fury when I was getting my learners permit at the age of 15, 212 00:39:52.830 --> 00:39:55.570 Bill McKibben: is still up there in the atmosphere. 213 00:39:56.100 --> 00:40:00.800 Bill McKibben: trapping smoke trapping heat 214 00:40:01.010 --> 00:40:05.269 Bill McKibben: And and so 215 00:40:05.450 --> 00:40:21.990 Bill McKibben: those are real reasons to lay off and of course, the biggest reason to lay off is we're in an emergency, and in an emergency you have to act differently than you would act in normal times. 216 00:40:22.430 --> 00:40:23.960 Bill McKibben: I get 217 00:40:24.290 --> 00:40:35.760 Bill McKibben: to some degree why people don't want to look at wind turbines or solar panels. But I also think that in an emergency that becomes a luxury that we 218 00:40:35.770 --> 00:40:36.920 Bill McKibben: can't afford. 219 00:40:37.270 --> 00:40:43.950 Bill McKibben: and truthfully, it should drive us to think a little differently, aesthetically, than we have been thinking. 220 00:40:44.280 --> 00:40:48.930 Bill McKibben: I have come to think of a winter mine on the horizon as something quite beautiful. 221 00:40:49.270 --> 00:40:56.920 Bill McKibben: The the breeze made visible, and and a symbol of our willingness to take responsibility for our own needs. 222 00:40:57.440 --> 00:41:09.750 Bill McKibben: I think about here in Vermont, where I live. The fact that most of the time when people are coming out against putting solar panels on. They're talking about the danger to agricultural land 223 00:41:09.830 --> 00:41:15.000 Bill McKibben: in Vermont and in much of the country. That means land devoted to growing corn. 224 00:41:15.210 --> 00:41:17.839 Bill McKibben: And if you think about it in a different way. 225 00:41:17.950 --> 00:41:33.169 Bill McKibben: corn is basically just another inefficient solar collector. When you have to pour a lot of nitrogen on to get it to grow. The nitrogen that then washes into the water system, and in our case turns Lake Champlain Green, but in the larger Us. Case 226 00:41:33.530 --> 00:41:38.699 Bill McKibben: creates that huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, and it washes down the Mississippi 227 00:41:39.300 --> 00:41:54.830 Bill McKibben: and the corn that it produces. We don't really need. We know that because most of it we use for corn syrup, or, more likely, ethanol. Which is a complete and utter waste. 228 00:41:54.870 --> 00:42:01.830 Bill McKibben: The new data shows that something like 60% of all the corn and Iowa is growing essentially gasoline. 229 00:42:01.860 --> 00:42:12.599 Bill McKibben: But it's also inefficient that if you took one or 2% of that land, covered it with solar panels and used it to power electric cars, you'd get the same mileage out of them. 230 00:42:13.160 --> 00:42:18.610 Bill McKibben: so it's a powerful moment to be thinking about 231 00:42:18.750 --> 00:42:24.709 Bill McKibben: all this change. Sometimes this change comes under the heading of Permitting Reform. 232 00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:32.880 Bill McKibben: and I think that if we're going to be serious about permitting reform, there's just a couple of caveats to bear in mind as we do it. 233 00:42:32.910 --> 00:42:38.139 Bill McKibben: and I think that they're important caveats, and I've been writing about them. 234 00:42:38.280 --> 00:42:41.240 Bill McKibben: one is 235 00:42:41.750 --> 00:43:00.310 Bill McKibben: in a rational world. It should follow as much as possible a climate test, that is, it makes no sense to make it easier to build pipelines, LNG terminals, all the things that scientists have told us 10,000 times over. Now we can't build more of. 236 00:43:00.370 --> 00:43:15.310 Bill McKibben: So a kind of even-handed, permitting reform is contrary to the laws of physics at this point, and I think that's important to understand the second thing I would say is, 237 00:43:16.360 --> 00:43:39.359 Bill McKibben: There's no question that any kind of permitting reform needs to come with some kind of fairness test, because we know who's taking it in the chin all along from our energy system, who's gotten to live next to everything that's no good in our society. And so those people in those communities should get an extra level of, say and protection about what happens going forward. 238 00:43:39.580 --> 00:43:43.580 Bill McKibben: Indigenous communities, environmental justice communities 239 00:43:44.320 --> 00:43:50.500 Bill McKibben: that's really important to listen to them and to protect those interests as we do this. 240 00:43:50.560 --> 00:43:59.459 Bill McKibben: The third thing I'd say that I haven't heard is many people talking about, but I also think is going to be really hopeful and important in a lot of ways is 241 00:43:59.720 --> 00:44:15.430 Bill McKibben: to the degree that we can figure out how to make it easier to build projects when they have community ownership, at least in part, it's going to get much easier to do this in man. Wouldn't it be nicer to have a 242 00:44:15.530 --> 00:44:42.299 Bill McKibben: a system that was not reliant just on giant energy corporations forever and ever. One of the things that made say the Danish transition to wind energy worked so well was that it was quite possible for local communities, churches, labor unions. youth groups, all schools, all sorts of people to be invested in and take ownership from a lot of those projects and 243 00:44:42.560 --> 00:45:10.720 Bill McKibben: the statistics about what happens when you do that are amazing. Among other things, the amount of illness, and and related to say, wind turbines, that people report goes straight to the ground, because now people have a stake in it, it doesn't feel like some alien thing intruding on the landscape, but rather something that you've bought into quite literally yourself. 244 00:45:10.790 --> 00:45:18.979 Bill McKibben: So those are the places, the things that nuances that I would think about as I thought about permitting reform going forward. 245 00:45:19.140 --> 00:45:22.690 Bill McKibben: We have an extraordinary amount of stuff to build 246 00:45:23.120 --> 00:45:25.769 Bill McKibben: and I'm 247 00:45:26.000 --> 00:45:44.480 Bill McKibben: that's going to be much of the work of the next decade or 2 figuring out how to build, how to make that transition. And there's 140 million homes in this country. There's maybe a billion machines that have to be changed out. That's a different task than a lot of the ones we've been engaged in. It's an exciting task 248 00:45:44.490 --> 00:46:06.329 Bill McKibben: is one that allows us to do all sorts of good things, but we have to do it with justice at the forefront, and we have to do it together, and we have to do it fast and someplace in the, you know, intersection of all those different imperatives. Hopefully, there's a way through. So I'm going to stop there to deal with some questions. If people would like Stephanie over to you. 249 00:46:06.420 --> 00:46:24.079 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): Perfect. Thank you so much, Bill, and really a great comprehensive overview of some of the challenges we're facing. I think it's just makes it all the more important that so many of us are here in DC. This week. So with that, I actually want you to get to see a few of our folks over the in the Ambassador rooms. I think Ricky's going to 250 00:46:24.170 --> 00:46:29.689 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): give you a sneak preview at how many people have joined us this week and are watching us live just down the hall. 251 00:46:35.420 --> 00:46:36.710 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): Wonderful! 252 00:46:37.890 --> 00:46:42.260 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): Oh, my goodness! That is a packed room. Hello, everybody! Hi! C out. 253 00:46:43.510 --> 00:46:55.660 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): Oh, this is fantastic! And these are just the folks who were here in person, Bill. So you got a big audience listening to you today. Thank you, as always, for using your platform to really get the word out about the importance of these climate solutions. 254 00:46:55.760 --> 00:47:10.400 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): I know we have a lot of audience questions, and you already answered a couple of the questions that I plan to ask you. So I'm actually going to toss it over to a familiar face on this call our amazing Senior Director of Communications, Flannery, to help us get through as many of them as we can. 255 00:47:10.860 --> 00:47:30.649 Flannery Winchester: All right. Thank you, Stephanie, and thank you, Bill. so I you started to talk about your perspective on permitting reform, and that's very helpful. That's top of mind for our folks. That's one of the things that we will be lobbying on on Capitol hill on Tuesday. so we have one question The most uploaded question so far is, 256 00:47:30.650 --> 00:47:49.590 Flannery Winchester: If you have a preferred permitting bill of, there are many, you know, many bills and proposals out there so far. And do you have a a take on any of them? Are we still kind of looking for the looking for the ideal version. 257 00:47:49.670 --> 00:47:53.849 Bill McKibben: there at the end, about community ownership and 258 00:47:53.910 --> 00:48:02.780 Bill McKibben: about justice and about a climate test that doesn't that privileges, clean energy over dirty energy. 259 00:48:02.820 --> 00:48:12.659 Bill McKibben: Obviously the political reality reality is intrude on all of these. So those are the things I'd be working hard to try and get into whatever form permitting. Reform ends up taking. 260 00:48:14.460 --> 00:48:15.660 Flannery Winchester: Okay? Great 261 00:48:15.730 --> 00:48:42.390 Flannery Winchester: And I appreciate you putting back in front of us the the Ipcc target of cutting emissions in half by 2,030. and we have a a bunch of different questions where people are kind of raising different different solutions and wondering your your perspective on them. So folks have mentioned regenerative agriculture. Some folks are asking about mining. Some folks are asking about nuclear So what's your sense of of the the path forward towards cutting emissions as deeply as we need to? 262 00:48:42.390 --> 00:48:51.209 Bill McKibben: Well, truthfully, I think, given the time that we have and given the economics. Probably the most straightforward way in the immediate future 263 00:48:51.210 --> 00:49:10.559 Bill McKibben: is sun, wind batteries, because they are cheap on the shelf, affordable, ready to go, and you can put them up fast. That's not true of other things. On the other hand, nuclear power, I it seems to me 264 00:49:11.380 --> 00:49:32.710 Bill McKibben: that we should be doing everything we can to keep open the plants we've got at the moment, as long as we can figure out how to operate them safely. And I'm glad that there's research going on to figure out whether we can actually get to this next generation of nuclear power that might provide affordable, safe and somewhat smaller 265 00:49:32.710 --> 00:49:50.989 Bill McKibben: nuclear options. Jim Hansen, my old friend in this work, has long said that he thinks there is a fourth generation or fifth generation of nuclear power possible. And let's hope that he turns out to be correct on that is, he has been on many other things going forward. 266 00:49:52.870 --> 00:49:59.319 Flannery Winchester: Absolutely. We're we're fans of Jim Hansen over here, too. he's on our last report. 267 00:49:59.520 --> 00:50:25.940 Bill McKibben: all right. Well, so to wrap up. We just got a couple of minutes left for questions. And I'm seeing some some questions where folks are wanting to hear a little bit more about third act. I think folks are familiar with 350. But when I see someone saying, Can we join third act you you definitely can, especially if you're over 60. We don't really check ids. But the idea here is that youth have been leading this work for a very long time. 268 00:50:25.960 --> 00:50:46.610 Bill McKibben: I started 3 50.org with 7 college students. That's who powered the fossil fuel divestment movement there and then there was the Sunrise movement. Then there was Greta Tunberg, by the way, who graduated from school yesterday. So her last school strike is behind her. What a visionary leader! How lucky we are that 269 00:50:46.650 --> 00:50:53.510 Bill McKibben: the Climate Rock Star turned out not to be a diva, but instead a remarkable, remarkable human being. 270 00:50:53.710 --> 00:50:55.429 Bill McKibben: but 271 00:50:56.440 --> 00:51:04.379 Bill McKibben: by themselves. Of course, young people lack the structural power to make change on this scale we need. And the time we have. 272 00:51:04.600 --> 00:51:11.850 Bill McKibben: The idea of third act is that those of us over the age of 60 have structural power coming out our ears. 273 00:51:12.470 --> 00:51:16.699 Bill McKibben: My case. I have hair coming out my ears now, too. But the 274 00:51:16.820 --> 00:51:28.300 Bill McKibben: the! It's not just that. There's a lot of us 70 million of us. But our political power is greater than that, because we all vote. There's no known way to stop old people from voting. 275 00:51:28.430 --> 00:51:35.650 Bill McKibben: and we have most of the financial resources, about 70% of the financial assets. 276 00:51:35.760 --> 00:51:57.020 Bill McKibben: So if you want to push around Washington or Wall Street, it helps to have some people with airlines like mine. It's been great fun watching them assemble. We're about 18 months into this, and it's become very, very big very quickly. Our biggest campaign has been around taking on the banks. This was after the Ira. When we didn't, we thought there was a period when 277 00:51:57.390 --> 00:52:24.959 Bill McKibben: more Federal action was unlikely in the short run. So we've been going after the big banks that are funding the fossil fuel industry, and we've had some luck there big series of nationwide demonstrations which many cclers helped with. and we'll be doing now this summer big program to take on the public utility commissions around the country, and lots and lots of other work. I think our symbol has kind of become 278 00:52:25.370 --> 00:52:42.139 Bill McKibben: the rocking chair. We've used it to good effect and number of sit-ins now to shut down the banks and things like that for the day, and I will just say for those of you who have you know something like that on your bucket list. 279 00:52:42.140 --> 00:53:03.780 Bill McKibben: Sitting in a rocking chair is a vast improvement over sprawling on the pavement, and my experience so. come, check it out. We're having a good deal of fun. And we work really closely with young people. Really, young people. Often what we found is that the relationship between 280 00:53:04.460 --> 00:53:14.469 Bill McKibben: how to say this between people, the age of grandchildren and grandparents is a lot less fraught than the one between people. The age of children and their parents. 281 00:53:14.500 --> 00:53:30.989 Bill McKibben: All grandchildren, all grandparents love their grandchildren completely, unconditionally, no matter what they're doing, and all grandchildren are smart enough to cut their grandparents some slack. So it turns out to be a great working relationship that we're enjoying immensely. 282 00:53:30.990 --> 00:53:48.010 Bill McKibben: and we'll look forward to seeing many of you helping out at third act, just as all kinds of third actors love helping out at the work that Ccl. Is doing. It's going to take all of us. Even those of us who sometimes feel like we're ready for arrest. 283 00:53:49.560 --> 00:53:53.390 Flannery Winchester: Absolutely. Well, thank you so much, Bill. I'm going to pass it back over to Stephanie. Now 284 00:53:53.790 --> 00:54:01.759 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): perfect. Thank you so much, and thank you to our audience for these great questions. Every single month you always bring great insights to the conversation. 285 00:54:01.800 --> 00:54:19.950 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): Bill, it's a privilege to know that if it is going to take all of us, you are right alongside with us and helping us get more people engaged. it's really such a critical journey. We're on right now towards clean energy permitting reform. And I think you've given us great insight for really how to advocate for that in a just an equitable way. As we go to the hill on Tuesday. 286 00:54:21.040 --> 00:54:23.339 Bill McKibben: Take curios and many thanks, Stephanie. 287 00:54:23.700 --> 00:54:24.960 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): absolutely. 288 00:54:25.550 --> 00:54:42.480 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): So now let's shift gears a little bit and take a look at what we're doing this month. First off we're asking you to practice talking about Ccl's clean energy permitting reform principles. If you miss those, you can actually go back into the Weekly Newsletter from a few weeks ago with Jen Tyler's report from our government affairs team. 289 00:54:42.870 --> 00:54:50.980 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): even if you're not with us in DC this weekend, there's also plenty of opportunities to get in on the action by helping to amplify what we're doing here together. 290 00:54:50.990 --> 00:55:03.880 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): You can write to Congress and keep up the pressure for more comprehensive bipartisan clean energy permitting reform that will help us really deliver on the promise of a just clean energy transition and hit those targets that Bill was just talking about. 291 00:55:04.340 --> 00:55:16.690 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): and of course follow and share our conference posts on social media. So more people can see the impact we can have when we come together. You can use the hashtag, Ccl 2,023 and hashtag grassroots climate to track those. 292 00:55:17.720 --> 00:55:34.359 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): Now, we're only able to do this great work because of the support of donors. Like many of you listening today. We've heard so many creative ideas from our chapters for fundraisers like pickle ball tournaments with elected officials. We're seeing some chatter about that in the forums on community. So go there for more information. 293 00:55:34.390 --> 00:55:38.780 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): We're going to ask you to keep thinking outside the box like that and help us fundraise this summer. 294 00:55:39.960 --> 00:55:46.560 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): Of course, the real lifeblood of Ccl is our relationships. And this is the area of our action sheet that I'm most excited about. 295 00:55:46.680 --> 00:55:57.679 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): I was just speaking to one of our campus chapter leaders at William and Mary last week, about the moment that his chapter really took off, and he said it was when they turned, quote radically toward each other. 296 00:55:57.810 --> 00:56:08.189 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): So thank you, Philip, for the inspiration. If you want to supercharge your relationship building host a Potlock this month to plan your summer outreach and turn radically toward each other while you're there. 297 00:56:08.430 --> 00:56:19.989 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): We've also learned from you all in the field how important it is to welcome new volunteers right away, and to give them a community to belong to. So this month try pairing up your new recruits so they can get to know us together. 298 00:56:20.530 --> 00:56:40.749 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): Now I'm going to exercise a little bit of host privileges to do something we can only do at this national call one time per year, invite real people in person to share what they're excited for this weekend. So I've invited a couple of our amazing interns to share. Why, they're here. What they've been doing with Ccl. And what they're most looking forward to. 299 00:56:40.880 --> 00:56:43.830 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): So with that, I'm going to pass it over to Danielle. 300 00:56:47.040 --> 00:57:05.950 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): Hello, everyone. I'm Daniel, the National chapter development intern. And what I'm looking forward to this weekend is the in-personing reminder that our community is a mosaic. So many folks from so many different backgrounds, walks of life rallying around that shared goal. I'm really excited to meet you all. 301 00:57:08.410 --> 00:57:28.420 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): Hi, everyone. I'm Samantha, John Stone, and I'm working as the communications intern this summer, and I'm really excited to lobby. So not only is this my first time at the Ccl. Conference, but this is my first time lobbying so. Something I love about Ccl. Is that you can pitch in with any level of experience. So I'm super excited to join you all. 302 00:57:31.580 --> 00:57:54.109 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): Hello, everyone! I am Emily O'keeffe. I am involved with William and Mary's chapter, and I'm also the founder of the carbon, the and dividend movement. The Student land movement for the company and dividend. And I'm most excited to just connect with people in person people who have really similar values. And it's just, I'm so yeah, I'm very excited. Thank you. 303 00:57:55.140 --> 00:57:56.140 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): Wow. 304 00:57:56.610 --> 00:58:20.630 Steffanie Munguía (she/her/ella): thank you all so much. I mean, if that isn't an inspiration, and that isn't getting you excited for all the great things we're going to accomplish this week and well into the future at the hands of these wonderful people next to me. I don't know what will. So with that, I just want to say, thank you all again for tuning in. Thank you for being the world's most dedicated and effective climate advocates. It is truly such a privilege to work with you all and have a wonderful month. 305 00:59:12.840 --> 00:59:40.709 Edison's climate levy has empowered me to see a pathway for myself in the kind of advocacy Ccl. Has given me so many professional connections. I've got multiple recommendation letters from people from citizens, climate lobby. I've tried new things like lobbying, organizing events, organizing a town hall, a conference. Ccl. Has empowered me to realize that I'm more capable of taking climate action than I thought 306 00:59:46.740 --> 01:00:08.230 I loved that it dig more than just clean beaches or sanker around donation campaigns. I liked that. It brought us directly into the offices of the people in power our elective officials and representatives. What really drew me to Ccl. Was its commitment to nonpartisanship. 307 01:00:08.350 --> 01:00:20.770 I thought, well, I have. I have the passion for it. I have the care to go out there and learn how to take these actions. Maybe I can be the one who helps other students find ways to take action, too. 308 01:00:25.500 --> 01:00:48.450 Ccl helped me jump, start my career and climate advocacy. I've been using what I've learned through Ccl to build my career because it has given me new skills that I hadn't had before. Citizens Climate Lobby has done so much to help advance my career. It has helped me understand Congress as an institution, how the climate movement works, and how to directly be impactful. 309 01:00:48.450 --> 01:00:58.709 In strategically moving a piece of legislation through a legislature, I learned how to set boundaries, how to ask for extra time, how to make mistakes without fear. 310 01:00:58.710 --> 01:01:25.969 how to turn what I'm passionate about into a reality. I've learned to public. Speak I've learned to be able to state what I want. I can kind of read the room and understand my audience better. I have a good understanding of how the legislative process works. Now, after working with the citizens kind of upbeat for for a couple of years, I actually got a job in Congress and have since taken meetings from our citizens climate lobby teams. 311 01:01:29.400 --> 01:01:47.150 I feel that Ccl. Has really taught me the importance of building collective power. It's helpful to have a cohort of people around you who are passionate to not only help you do the work, but just to lean on them for a support. In other ways. The amount of 312 01:01:47.150 --> 01:02:05.470 the power that the people hold when they come together and are fighting for a common cause is really amazing to see. It's so important for young people to get involved in climate advocacy because they have the drive, they have vision and they are ready to take action. 313 01:02:05.470 --> 01:02:08.979 This is the generation that will be climate change.