Why I'm not an activist: and finding the "YES!" in 350.org

Honestly, I wanted to to nothing more than put in my winter garden this weekend, but atlas, the largest climate event in history was taking place, so I hopped on my bike and coerced a friend to take the biodiesel ferry with me across the bay so we could take part in the 350 event in San Francisco.

OK, so here's the dealio: It was an amazing event that ignited the imaginations of people around the world to get involved with climate change. When ever you are feeling lo, head on over to the 350.org flickr site and bask in the inspiration.

The strength of 350 is a clear, focused, informed message that spoke to people who might not self identify as activists.

The message: There is a problem: we have too much CO2 in the air to live in a healthy way on the planet.

A solution: Send a message to our negotiators at Copenhagen to take decisive action.

The variety of people who showed up at the SF event was a testament to their ability to bring together people across platforms who are interested in protecting the environment. Code pink was there, Green Peace was there,  dogs who eat vegan were there, polar bears where there.

Umbra of Grist caught up with founder of Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org at the NYC event in Times Square.



What I found at the event in San Francisco was the mixing of old world of activism that points and yells at the problem and says, "broken!" and the new world activism that only has time to say, "here is a solution." The speakers were there to keep us entertained and informed while we formed a big 350 (I was in the 3). But honestly, I couldn't hear most of them. It's not that they weren't speaking loud enough. They were, after all, yelling. They were yelling at me. I don't like being yelled at. There is a reason why activists yell, for many years they had to because no one was listening. They had to do radical things to capture the attention of the media and the public.

Now I should confess that I don't like the word activist.  Its a bit like "feminist" somewhere in the mix of life, the media, and society the term took on a "dirty" and negative association.

And while some of my dearest friends and people I deeply respect self identify as activists, and while many of my dearest friends even associate me as an activist (I show all the tell tale signs: I have gone to marches, I've contacted my political leaders, I over share on facebook about environmental news) when I try on the identity, it feels more like rusty stifling armor than a well fit glove.

Here is when I dropped the identity forever: When living in Virginia a few years back I drove up to New York City to attend what was at that point the largest protest on the planet against the Iraq war. It was an an amazing event. There were so many of us marching that the police took down the barricades. It was...peaceful, and there were people of every race and age present.

The next day I looked in the newspapers and nothing was there. A two line report in the back page of the New York Times reporting that some hoodlums had jumped on cars. All of a sudden I felt sick to my stomach. Something was wrong. Very wrong. And I couldn't put my finger on it.

That's when I found the following quote by Mother Teresa:

I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there.

What she said resonated.  I haven't attended anti-rally as a participant since. (I have attended in the role of the media, because I believe they are important stories to tell.)  But I wanted my personal participation, my voice, and energy to go toward events and organizations that are focused on finding the solutions.

With that said, I attended the 350 rally as a participant because I heard a "yes" in their message. Yes to a clear goal. Yes to our political leaders making decisions that will create policy that will think seven generation ahead..and yes to that it will take creativity and fun to engage the world in this issue.

The interview with 350 I posted on Current provoked an interesting discussion and criticism about 350 not gathering people to take more concrete action, and Janforgore questioned why didn't they surround 350 power plants. I think you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. 350 had a mission: raise public awareness, show political leaders that people around the world are engaged with the issue and will support them. Mission accomplished. What you choose to do at that pool of information is up to you.

Meanwhile, here is an excerpt from a sample speech that the 350 organizers gave to their organizers around the world to read:

We rally around the number 350 because it is the safe upper limit of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, and so 350 defines what is necessary for the earth to continue as we have known it.  We have relied upon the patterns of rainfall and ice and sea level that have marked this world for the ten thousand years of human civilization.   If these patterns shift dramatically, the first victims will be the people living closest to the edge--people who have already begun to suffer from drought, from flood, from the spread of disease. We will not stand by and let that happen.

The second thing I'd like to say today is that you're part of something that matters. The climate crisis is such a huge issue that it's always hard to see what difference any of us can make--especially when our foes include some of the most powerful entities on earth. We can't match them in money, but they can't match us in numbers, in spirit, in dedication. And we have a secret weapon, which is the power that comes from scientific observation. Today we are taking that number 350 and making it the centerpiece of the debate over climate. We are reminding the world's leaders that they can give all the speeches they want, but that won't change the way that physics and chemistry operate. We are standing up for scientific reality, and in so doing reframing this debate in a way that will echo through the UN Climate Talks in Copenhagen and beyond.

And the last thing I would like to say today is more personal: it's a great privilege to be able to get out of bed in the morning and think to yourself, "There's nothing more important than this that I could be doing today."  Take a moment to think about the amazing fact that across the globe today, people are doing just what you're doing, hoping just what you're hoping, believing just what you're believing--and together we are making these deeds, hopes, and beliefs add up to something truly transformational.

Related content:

350: Will THIS event event save the world?

The fresh face of the modern day farmer (video)


The no bulls**t report from Bangkok about the climate talks (video)

Hilarity continues in the name of climate change: hello survivaball