Fossil fuel is very seductive stuff. [John Maynard] Keynes once said that, as far as he could tell, the average standard of living from the beginning of human history to the middle of the eighteenth century had perhaps doubled. Not much had changed, and then we found coal and gas and oil and everything changed. We're reaping the result of that, both ecologically and socially.
Bill McKibbenClimate change is a huge problem, an almost insoluble problem, for two reasons. One is the habits of the West in terms of consumption. The other is the incredible iniquity between poor countries and rich countries on this planet.
Bill McKibbenIn the States we've had by far the largest demonstrations in the last few years. The largest civil disobedience actions about anything in US history in the last 30 years have all been centred around the climate.
Bill McKibbenIn the last two years 24 countries have set new all-time temperature records. We've seen flooding on an epic scale in every continent .
Bill McKibbenWhen we work all over the planet, it's mostly poor and black and brown and young people, because that's mostly what the world [environmentalism] is.
Bill McKibben