KXL Becomes the Unexpected Pivot of the MA Sen Race

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Tuesday March 19, 2013 · 9:04 AM PDT

2013/03/19 · 09:04

Since the mission of this place is to elect More and Better Democrats, folks might want to pay attention to what's unfolded over the last couple of days in the Democratic primary for the Massachusetts Senate.

The fight for the nomination to replace John Kerry is between two members of the Bay State's congressional delegation: Ed Markey and Stephen Lynch. And it turns out that theres a key point of differentiation between them. On the issue that Time magazine called "the Selma and the Stonewall" of the environmental movement, the Keystone pipeline from Canada's tar sands, Lynch is one of the few Democrats to vote in its favor.

Actually, he did it twice. Once in the summer of 2011, just as the fight was heating up (NASA's James Hansen had already declared that burning the tarsands would be 'game over' for the climate, which maybe should have been enough to give him pause) and then again, even more egregiously, in the winter of 2012. That vote came after the largest civil disobedience action in 30 years on any issue in this country, with 1,253 going to jail including, among many Bay Staters, the head of the Commonwealth's United Church of Christ. It also came after President Obama had asked that Keystone be set aside for a year of more review. But Lynch, again alone among the entire MA congressional delegation, voted to snub the president and push for fast approval of KXL.

So it's no real surprise that the fast-growing fossil fuel resistance is pushing back. Last week the action fund of 350.org jumped into a political race for the first time, launching a VoteNoKXL campaign on Massachusetts' (many) college campuses. I explained the reasoning yesterday in a piece in the Boston Phoenix. (It was a very bittersweet piece, the last cover story the Phoenix will ever publish, and in fact it's only coming out online; the paper's publishers abruptly ended the paper's long, proud history last Thursday)

Meanwhile, yesterday a second front opened. Four young Massachusetts climate activists joined with California billionaire investor Tom Steyer to issue a very public threat to Lynch: change your position on Keystone, or face a full-on battle with the kind of resources Steyer has provided in the past. (He's been the main force behind two California ballot propositions, funneling tens of millions of dollars of his own money into the races). Steyer is an interesting man--rich beyond telling, handsome, charismatic, and willing to fight against the interests of his class for the common good. He gave a rousing speech at the huge climate rally in DC last month, explaining that Keystone was a "very bad business decision." Apparently, he meant it.

This strikes me as precisely the kind of battle that Kossacks should hope for--a chance, in a primary for what should be a pretty safe seat, to define what the Democratic party is. I don't agree with Ed Markey's approach to everything environmental; but I know that on core votes that reflect what the party's activists care most about, he can be counted on.

And I hope it sends a signal to other wavering Senators, representatives, (and presidents). We actually care about the things we say we care about. We need you to know that.

Today was the day the climate movement came together

Bill McKibben for DK GreenRoots

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Sunday February 17, 2013 · 1:55 PM PST

2013/02/17 · 13:55

Today was the day: finally, powerfully, conclusively the climate change movement came together.

This was the biggest global warming rally in history (and almost certainly the biggest rally about anything in sub-freezing temps in DC history). Upwards of 40,000 people gathered by the Washington Monument, and then paraded past the White House, demanding that President Obama block the Keystone Pipeline.

There were many high points: Van Jones declaring that Keystone was the only presidential decision anyone would care about in 20 years; billionaire investor Tom Steyer laying out precisely why it was a bad investment; chief Jackie Thomas explaining that they’d never build a pipeline west to the Pacific.

But the real highlight was you. Movements aren’t about leaders (though without Michael Brune and the Sierra Club, or Lennox Yearwood and the Hip Hop Caucus, this day would not have come off). Movements are about people—about all of us who put aside the things we have to do because we understand that the future is at stake.

We’ll try and figure out how best to put the momentum of this historic day to use—but for now, thanks to everyone who came to DC, everyone who gathered in the solidarity rallies around the country, and everyone who sent their good wishes and prayers. You guys are the movement, and the movement is our best chance at making a difference on climate change.

(If I were better at posting pictures, I would--but I hope others will toss in some of the many beautiful shots from this massive gathering)

Please check out two diaries with photos and/or videos: One from Montana and one from DC rally!

Photos, Video from Today's "Forward on Climate" Rally in Washington, DC by lowkell. Includes video of First Nation women speaking at rally.

Forward on Climate in Montana (photo diary) by Ojibwa.

lowkell's diary has picture of eeff! all week of XL blogathon he worked on his sign!

More kossacks reporting on rallies across country!

Forward on Climate - Seattle - Photo Diary by John Crapper

Forward on Climate - Chicago Represents (Photo Diary) by figbash

Bill McKibben for DK GreenRoots

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Wednesday February 13, 2013 · 1:31 PM PST

2013/02/13 · 13:31

How big a deal is Keystone?

Handcuffed next to me was Mike Brune, head of the Sierra Club, which today broke its 120-year ban on civil disobedience. That's how important Keystone is.

Directly across from me, also with his hands behind his back for a couple of hours, was Julian Bond, who was first arrested in 1960 integrating Atlanta lunch counters. Bond was last arrested in the 1980s protesting outside the South African embassy. That's how important Keystone is.

Bobby Kennedy Jr. was one paddywagon ahead, with his son Conor. "I'm an officer of the court and I'm not supposed to get arrested, but this is too vital a question." That's how important Keystone is.

It was a remarkable day of civil disobedience outside the White House. The police severely limited the number of people that could take part, but the crew included Nebraska ranchers, Texas farmers, Native activists, people from frontline communities who have already suffered or been damaged by tar sands refineries. There was a former poet laureate of the United States (Robt Haas) and a movie star (Daryl Hannah), and the planet's premier climate scientist (James Hansen), and three dozen more remarkable human beings--business leaders, engineers, writers, campaigners. It was beautiful.

And even more beautiful because everyone knew it was just the prelude to Sunday's massive rally on the mall.

And even more beautiful yet because, with the massive press coverage, it felt like we were getting across the central message: This is President Obama's real chance to show he cares about the climate.

If he blocks Keystone, he'll be the first world leader to block a big project because it would wreck the climate. We've got to start somewhere, and this is where the environmental movement has drawn the line in the sand. See you Sunday!

more pictures from today here.

Amidst all the nonsense, a sudden and unexpected victory

Bill McKibben for DK GreenRoots

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Saturday December 22, 2012 · 2:37 PM PST

2012/12/22 · 14:37

John Boehner, Wayne LaPierre: essentially guys devoted to making sure nothing ever changes. It's painful just to look at. So, meet Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, henceforth known as Santa Claus to the environmental movement.

Earlier today he announced that city funds would never be invested in fossil fuel companies again, and urged the city's pension fund to divest. This is a powerful political statement: it is the leader of one our biggest cities (a clty tied to the nation's and the world's economic future) declaring that he doesn't want to be tied up with the dirty energy companies bent on wrecking our future.

It made me proud that he cited the Rolling Stone article I wrote last summer explaining why the fossil fuel companies are the bad guys in this fight--I'm glad it has 121,000 likes on Facebook, but much gladder it's helping change policy. But the real factor was the outpouring of people determined to stand up to Exxon et al. We kicked off our DotheMath tour in Seattle, with Mayor McGinn up on stage--he saw the huge sold-out crowd at one of the city's biggest concert halls, and he knew that this movement would have his back if he did the right thing.

We've got 192 college campuses now with active divestment fights. Every one of them will know about this soon, and it will give them heart. And now we've got a template for activists in every city around the country and soon the world. Mayor McGinn, you're a hero.

Here's the account of McGinn's bold decision from gofossilfree.org, which is the hub of the emerging divestment movement. And here's the text of his statement:

To the members of the Seattle City Employees’ Retirement System Board:

I write to you today to ask that you refrain from future investments in fossil fuel companies and begin the process of divesting our pension portfolio from those companies. I recognize that this process will require a thorough evaluation of the portfolio’s performance, assets, and investment strategies. City staff stand ready to assist you in this work.

Climate change is one of the most important challenges we currently face as a city and as a society. We have watched in recent weeks as weather influenced by climate change has caused significant damage and financial losses to cities and states on the East Coast. The projections suggest that the problem could get much worse. According to Bill McKibben and 350.org, fossil fuel corporations now have 2,795 gigatons of carbon dioxide in their reserves, five times the amount considered safe to avoid catastrophic climate change.

I believe that Seattle ought to discourage these companies from extracting that fossil fuel, and divesting the pension fund from these companies is one way we can do that. The City’s cash pool is not currently invested in fossil fuel companies, and I already directed that we refrain from doing so in the future. In addition, I am asking the Deferred Compensation Plan Committee to develop options for City employees to allow them to move their investments out of fossil fuel companies if desired, and to offer fossil fuel free investment choices to them refrain from future investments in fossil fuel.

The City of Seattle’s finance director informs me that two of the system’s top 10 investments are with ExxonMobil and Chevron. The pension system has currently $17.6 million invested with these two firms, which represents roughly 0.9% of the system’s $1.9 billion in assets. I understand that it is likely the system has investments in other fossil fuel-related entities as well.

There is a clear economic argument for divestment. While fossil fuel companies do generate a return on our investment, Seattle will suffer greater economic and financial losses from the impact of unchecked climate change. Our infrastructure, our businesses, and our communities would face greater risk of damages and losses due to turbulent weather that climate change causes. As a waterfront city, several of our neighborhoods and industrial districts are at risk if climate change causes a significant rise in sea level.

I believe that Seattle’s pension funds should be invested in companies that can provide a good return on our investment without putting our city and our future at risk. I am ready to work with the City Council and the pension board to make this happen.

Sincerely,

Mike McGinn
Mayor of Seattle

Stunning Liftoff for the Divestment Movement--Most Emailed at NYT

Bill McKibben for DK GreenRoots

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Wednesday December 05, 2012 · 10:52 AM PST

2012/12/05 · 10:52

I staggered back home last night after a month on the road with the DoTheMath tour. We'd been playing to sold out houses around the country--but you never know, maybe you're just inside your own small bubble. (Or, in our case, our own small bus)

But within an hour of being home, two things happened
1) I heard from my colleagues at 350.org that we had just passed 146 campuses where the divestment fight is underway--we're closing in on the total number of campuses that eventually divested from South Africa (155), and even though so far it's early days and only 2 (Unity and Hampshire) have sold their stock, this fight is now fully on, and growing by the minute.

2)I turned on my laptop, only to find a story from the NYT with a big picture from our tour splashed across the electronic front page. It's a great piece, focusing on the fight at Swarthmore and then stepping back to show that they're in the vanguard of a suddenly mushrooming movement.

This is a movement that we can win--and if we do, we'll do much to turn the fossil fuel industry into the new tobacco industry, and weaken their political power. We'll give our champs in DC and other capitols some political space to do their thing. So please help out by
1) Emailing the article from the NYT;and
2) Getting involved at your college or your alma mater here

Check out all the action at gofossilfree.org. We've got liftoff, let's go into orbit

100 Campuses Join Divestment from Fossil Fuel Fight

Bill McKibben for DK GreenRoots

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Friday November 30, 2012 · 7:54 AM PST

2012/11/30 · 07:54

Greetings from Minneapolis

It's a gray morning here, and our big bus just rolled in from Madison. We've been on tour across America every night since the election (with a couple off for Thanksgiving), playing big sold-out shows at concert halls and theaters across the country. It's been incredibly exciting--huge crowds everywhere eager to help in the fight against climate change.

And it's not just talk. We've been trying to spark a movement as we've gone along--a movement to go on offense against the fossil fuel companies. Yes, we'll keep playing defense against bad projects like the Keystone pipeline. But we can't stop global warming one pipeline at a time--we also have to turn the fossil fuel industry into the tobacco industry and weaken their power to block any good idea that rises in DC

We're calling this the DoTheMath tour, and basing it on the viral article I wrote for Rolling Stone this summer. In essence, it shows that the fossil fuel companies have five times as much carbon in their reserves as even the most conservative government on earth thinks would be safe to burn. They're a reckless rogue force, outlaws against the laws of physics, and they deserve to lose their social license.

One way of many to make that happen is a divestment campaign, at colleges, churches, pension funds, and so on. We've been trying to spark such a movement as we travel--and it's working beyond our wildest dreams. As of yesterday, we passed the 100-campus mark with active divestment campaigns. Here's a list. And if you're a student or alum of a college on or off the list, it will be clear what to do!

We've already had our first big success--Unity College in Maine has completely divested and Hampshire College in Mass. has pretty much done the same. And the Harvard student body voted 3-1 to demand their trustees do the same.

Of course, this won't be easy. Harvard immediately said 'No,' as will most other big players. That's how these fights start. But the student leaders didn't give an inch. "President Faust will have to change her mind, because we aren't changing ours," one sophomore explained. Those who remember the ultimately successful battles for divestment from South Africa in the 1980s know what comes next: sit-ins and candlelight vigils, teach-ins and alumni campaigns.

I'm a little tired after all this travel. (Sleeping on the tour bus is somewhat more romantic in theory than practice). But I'm more fired up than I've ever been. It's time to take the fight straight at the fossil fuel industry, so we can open up some space for our champions in DC. It's time to be on offense!

Thanks to all who are helping, and I'll look forward to seeing you...down the road

Climate Change SOS Blogathon: Breaking Romney's eerie silence on climate change

Bill McKibben for DK GreenRoots

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Wednesday August 22, 2012 · 7:55 AM PDT

2012/08/22 · 07:55

Here’s what we know as of 8 a.m. Pacific time this morning:

# More than a million acres of the U.S. is ablaze; the country is burning at a record pace.

# More than half the country is in some form of drought emergency; grain prices are hitting new record highs today on international markets.

#Arctic ice is on the verge of setting a new melt record--and we’ve got weeks of melt season left.

#Parts of the Mississippi are effectively closed to barge traffic because there’s not enough water to float them.

And here’s what we don’t know:

If Mitt Romney has noticed any of this at all.

You can call the Republican nominee shifty and dishonest on some subjects (his insinuation that the Obama administration makes it easier for welfare recipients to avoid work has failed every fact check). You can call him self-interested on others (setting a tax rate that lowers your already low taxes just seems…selfish).

But on climate change—almost certainly the biggest issue the planet faces—you can’t call him much of anything. Because he has no position. If you look at his website, he has positions running the gamut from “Afghanistan” to “Values.” But there’s nothing on global warming.

He’s answered one question from reporters about the subject all year: “Scientists will figure that out ten, twenty, fifty years from now,” he said. But that’s wrong. Scientists figured it out ten and twenty years ago—which is why every national academy of science and every professional society call for action. Hell, George W. Bush seven years ago firmly linked climate change to human activity. The CEO of Exxon admitted in June that global warming was real (albeit an “engineering problem”).

I’m no apologist for Barack Obama—I led the largest civil disobedience action of his presidency (and the last 30 years) outside the WhIte House to protest tar sands oil. But Romney’s silence is simply unacceptable. We have to demand that he tell us what he thinks about an issue that will dominate everything from ag policy to foreign policy for decades to come.

So at the 350.org action fund we’ve set up a way to aggregate signatures from Americans asking for his opinion. We’ll deliver them to him as creatively as we can in a few days. Would you please sign on yourself, and then figure out how to share this with your friends?

And I’ll keep praying that Hurricane Isaac dies down in the Atlantic. If it hits Tampa during the GOP convention, I suppose it would help deliver the message—but an awful lot of other people would suffer along the way.

Climate Action!

If you happen to wander over to Mitt Romney’s website, try to decipher his policy positions on climate change. But don’t look too long; climate change isn't even mentioned once.

The stakes are too high to play politics with our lives. Please sign our petition that asks Mr. Romney two simple questions:

Do you disagree with the scientific consensus that humans are warming the planet?
If not, what do you plan to do to solve the climate crisis if you are elected President?

When enough people ask, 350.org will deliver this petition to Romney campaign headquarters to see if he's ready to answer.

Please stay tuned for our follow-up report!

The most important thing I've written in many years

Bill McKibben for DK GreenRoots

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Thursday July 19, 2012 · 8:28 AM PDT

2012/07/19 · 08:28

And, well, I write a lot.

But this long piece that just went up at Rolling Stone tries to distill what we now know about climate change into 3 numbers

1) 2 degrees C--that's what the world's nations (even oil states) have agreed is the most we can possibly let temps rise. It's actually too high--but it is the one thing about climate change that the world has agreed on

2) 565 gigatons co2--that's roughly how much more carbon we can pour into the atmosphere between now and 2050 and have a reasonable chance of staying below 2 degrees. It's not much--we burn about 30 gigatons a year, and growing, so at current rates would go by in 16 years

3) 2795 gigatons co2. This is the really scary number. It's how much carbon the fossil fuel industry (and the countries that operate like fossil fuel companies) have already in their reserves. The stuff that props up their share price, lets them borrow money. The stuff they're committed to burning.

What that means is: we now know for certain that the stated business plans of this industry will wreck the planet. It's not even close--they're planning to burn 5 x the carbon that any sane scientist sets as the absolute upper limit.

So stopping them doesn't mean gradual shifts in trajectory. It means taking on this industry with at least as much vigor as we took on companies that did business with apartheid South Africa.

We'll be announcing plans at 350.org to do just that. But for the moment, I'd be most grateful if people could read and share the Rolling Stone piece, and provide feedback. Warning: it's long. (Even longer than the Justin Bieber profile in the same issue)

thanks much--bill

Just, thanks. A big day.

Bill McKibben for DK GreenRoots

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Friday March 09, 2012 · 4:37 AM PST

2012/03/09 · 04:37

We won a huge victory in the Senate yesterday, when Majority Leader Reid managed to cobble together enough votes to block a GOP amendment forcing approval of the Keystone Pipeline. It was close (a 2-vote margin) but frankly I was not at all sure we could prevail--the influence of oil money in Congress is so enormous. (The 56 Senators that voted yes together took 300% more money from fossil fuel interests than those that voted no).

So--thanks are due to the Senate leadership, and to the administration. They were willing to take real heat.

But the deepest thanks are for all of you who made this campaign happen in the summer and fall--the 1253 people who went to jail, the 12,000 who surrounded theWhtie House shoulder to shoulder, the 800,000 who sent messages to the Senate in a single day. We made enough noise that it was still echoing in DC, just loudly enough to pull off yesterday's win. And DK was a big part of that noise--the intense coverage of the civil disobedience action helped break it through to the national media, and made sure that this was seen as a key part of the progressive message. The comments section on many diaries were full of good ideas we adopted. This is a powerful community.

What we together showed, I think, is that people power can beat oil money. It doesn't happen often, but if we manage to unify, think creatively, and make real sacrifices we can get something done. In this sense, Keystone was a learning exercise. In the end, the pipeline may get built (for sure if Romney gets elected) but even this temporary victory has taught us a lot.

And next, we need to stop just playing defense against bad projects and go on the offense. The next clear target is subsidies for fossil fuels--why are we paying the richest industry on earth billions in taxpayer dollars? Keep an eye on 350.org for details in the next few days.

But for now--so many thanks for a job well done. Yes, the planet is still warming fast. But I feel real hope today.

(Updated)24 hours. Half a Million Signatures. Please.

Bill McKibben for DK GreenRoots

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Monday February 13, 2012 · 7:44 AM PST

2012/02/13 · 07:44

We're going to war at noon eastern today--non-violent war, but a powerful, unified fight against the heart of right-wing power, the fossil fuel industry. We're out to collect half a million emails in 24 hours telling the Senate: back up the president and keep this pipeline dead. It's going to be the most concentrated burst of environmental activism this millennium--and it needs you. If you're ready to go, here's the link

You'll recall that President Obama denied Transcanada its pipeline permit a month ago, after the GOP forced him into an absurd 60-day review of a project that every prominent climate scientist has said is folly. That was brave--it came in the face of a threat from the American Petroleum Institute to exact 'huge political consequences.' It's the high-water mark of the president's relationship with environmentalists.

But this is the zombie project that always lurches back to life, thanks to the life-giving power of fossil fuel money. The oil harem in the House has already decided to attach it to the transportation bill, and there are some observers who think the Senate might follow suit--one Democrat, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, has already broken with the president to back the bill.

So the entire environmental community is locking arms today. I mean, the whole thing--from the corporate friendly Environmental Defense Fund to the corporate unfriendly Rainforest Action Network. I mean, the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters and the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Wildlife Federation and Green For All and everyone else who's ever tried to save a whale, clean a lake, build a park, find a solar job. But not just them--the rest of the progressive world is joining in too, from the Labor Network for Sustainability to MoveOn, from Credo to Democracy for America, from Public Citizen to the Change.Org. There are faith groups and businesses--a whole list can be found here.

They're all emailing their lists, in hopes that their members will email on to the Senate. And the message is simple: This project stinks. Tapping the tarsands heavily will mean, in James Hansen's words, 'game over for the climate.' The precursor pipeline leaked 12 times in its first year. The oil is for export--and the refineries will get billions in federal subsidies for converting to process this filthy crude. The only study not carried out by Transcanada showed it would kill as many jobs as it would create--at best, 3,000 two-year jobs.

Or, if you lean more to politics than to physics and chemistry: don't screw the president. He's done a brave thing. Get his back. Again, here's the link. And please--spread the word. You guys know how to do this better than I do.

We've spent our bodies in this fight--I spent three days in jail, along with 1253 other people in the biggest civil disobedience action in 30 years. We've spent our energy--we surrounded the White House 5 deep, shoulder to shoulder, with wonderful activists. Today we spend every pixel and keystroke we can beg. Thank you in advance.

p.s.--I'll either update this diary, if it's on the rec list, or write some new ones from time to time to let people know how the effort is going.

Bill McKibben for DK GreenRoots

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Tuesday February 07, 2012 · 5:03 PM PST

2012/02/07 · 17:03

This news is far afield from the caucus states, or even America. But it's about one of our real allies on this planet, the president of the Maldive Islands, Mohammed Nasheed. He's arguably the Mandela of the Indian Ocean--he spent six years in jail before forcing an election that overthrew the country's longstanding autocrat. But this morning some kind of sketchy military coup returned the old order to power. Many of Nasheed's colleagues have fled; he's under some kind of house arrest.

This is not just a blow to democracy--it's a huge blow to the climate movement. Nasheed is the epitome of the kind of leadership we need to see the world around. He's engaged in practical work--the Maldives was, until this morning, on track to become the world's first carbon-neutral nation by 2020. And he's been a great political leader--you may recall that he trained his whole cabinet to scuba dive so they could hold an underwater cabinet meeting against their dying coral reef in 2009, in conjunction with 350.org's first huge global day of action.

This Muslim leader is a great great man. We need to come to his defense. Here's a quick petition page we've set up at 350.org, to let the Maldivian military know the world is watching. I'll never forget watching Nasheed speak to a huge rally at Copenhagen--it was the high point of that hopeless week. As you can tell, I'm a little frantic. Please help here.

Why this place is worth $100 (and a lot more)

Bill McKibben for DK GreenRoots

Community

Wednesday December 14, 2011 · 12:30 PM PST

2011/12/14 · 12:30

no image description available — From the Daily Kos Community Quilt

From the Daily Kos Community Quilt

In some sense, I suppose, DailyKos wasn’t built for the likes of me. I’ve pretty much always had a voice—I was editor of the Crimson when I was at Harvard, and went straight from there to the New Yorker, where I wrote much of the Talk of the Town column for five years. (Most weeks I alternated writing the political piece up front, Notes & Comment, with the great Jonathan Schell). When I quit and moved to the Adirondack wilds, my first book—The End of Nature—came out in 24 languages. Name a magazine or a newspaper and I’ve written for it; here’s my piece from this morning’s LA Times oped page.

And yet, maybe because of all of that, I’ve come to really treasure DailyKos. There are two reasons.

One, precisely because it amplifies the voices of people who didn’t make writing their career, who don’t have all those other opportunities to get their voices out. One of the great revelations of the rise of the web was how many talented writers and thinkers there are out there in the world—the quality of a good piece on the Recommended list is higher than the average pundit’s column, usually because it’s about something more than the distillation of the conventional wisdom. I don’t work in a retail store; I’m glad to read the experiences of those who do. Ditto for the great range of age, experience, race, creed, and so on.

Two, even more important, this site serves mostly people who want to do something. Sort of by accident, I seem to have become as much an activist as a writer. When I helped organize the civil disobedience outside the White House this summer that sparked the Keystone protests, one of the reasons it turned into the largest action of its kind in three decades is because we had a way of getting the word out. Not on tv, which wasn’t paying any attention; not in the newspapers, whose correspondents were all on the Vineyard with the president; but through the web, and particularly through the daily updates that PDNC organized here. We got helpful ideas, but mostly we got involvement.

So I think it’s a damned good investment to ‘subscribe,’ just as I subscribe to my local public radio station. (Not because I’m such a huge fan any more of NPR itself, I confess, but because we need strong local coverage). I’m convinced Kos will use the money to make this place stronger, and that he’ll do it without imposing his will any more than civility requires. (I’ve been very impressed that, even though I know from his books he doesn’t really like 60s-style protest, the site became the center for reporting not only about the Keystone demonstrations but also OWS).

It doesn’t mean that there aren’t days when this place annoys me. I don’t much like the faux realism/cynicism that informs some comments, nor the sometimes binary views of politics (Obama good/Obama bad). And I could live without the endless sneering at religion. But I imagine there are people who could live without me. I've spent much of my intellectual life in recent years writing about the need for strong local communities, and what goes for them goes for the virtual kind too: The definition of a working community is one where you pay attention to what interests others too; it’s the opposite of the solipsistic consumer world we’re encouraged to inhabit.

So—with deep thanks to all who do the hard work of keeping this community alive and functioning, time to pull out the credit card. We've got a ton of work to do in the year to come; I'm going to be concentrating on fighting corporate power, made brutally manifest in the fossil fuel industry. I know we're going to need lots of help. And I know where I'm going to turn for it.

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KXL Becomes the Unexpected Pivot of the MA Sen Race

Today was the day the climate movement came together

Notes from the paddywagon: Keystone is the test

Amidst all the nonsense, a sudden and unexpected victory

Stunning Liftoff for the Divestment Movement--Most Emailed at NYT

100 Campuses Join Divestment from Fossil Fuel Fight

Climate Change SOS Blogathon: Breaking Romney's eerie silence on climate change

The most important thing I've written in many years

Just, thanks. A big day.

(Updated)24 hours. Half a Million Signatures. Please.

A great hero, under house arrest. Action needed!

Why this place is worth $100 (and a lot more)