We’re going to need that kind of movement, because the fossil fuel industry is a sprawling adversary – at work everywhere, its tentacles in everybody’s politics, invulnerable, I think, to direct frontal assault, but probably more brittle than it guesses if we come at it from all sides.
BILL MCKIBBEN
BILL MCKIBBEN
Bill McKibben on needs
Bill McKibben108 quotes“We’re going to need that kind of movement, because the fossil fuel industry is a sprawling adversary – at work everywhere, its tentacles in everybody’s politics, invulnerable, I think, to direct frontal assault, but probably more brittle than it guesses if we come at it from all sides.”
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More from Bill McKibben
There is a tendency at every important but difficult crossroad to pretend that it’s not really there.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben We spend a lot of time playing defence against bad things. So, in the US, one of the focusses has been this huge Keystone Pipeline project, another has been the coal ports on the Pacific Ocean.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben Look – every time is the wrong time and the perfect time to have a kid, and you just do it when you can.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben The laws of Congress and the laws of physics have grown increasingly divergent, and the laws of physics are not likely to yield.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben I don’t spend a huge amount of time fixated on climate denial because I don’t think that their objections, though sometimes couched in science, are based in science. I think they’re based in ideology. And I don’t think there’s anything you can do.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben We’d like to get the fossil fuel industry on the back foot for a while, having to deal with us.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben The idea that China and India will just abandon climate action is not true, because they’re doing it for more reasons than we are.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben Very few people on earth ever get to say: ‘I am doing, right now, the most important thing I could possibly be doing.’ If you’ll join this fight that’s what you’ll get to say
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben I did very much like [Barack] Obama’s attack on fossil fuel subsidies for fossil fuel companies. We asked for that in demonstrations and petitions, and now we’ll try to push it forward.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben No one is strong enough – given the magnitude of the task, everyone has to step up their game.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben I’m guessing the most efficient way would be to transfer an awful lot of technology, but also direct aid to deal with climate emergencies already underway. Hillary [Clinton] has already said $100 billion a year would be appropriate.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben To me the analogy [to climate change] is… doctors worry a lot about cholesterol. And if you go to the doctor, and the doctor says “oh, your life would be happier if you ate a different diet and exercised” people pay no attention.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben The Arctic and the Antarctic are melting quickly. We may have waited too long to get started. But this is a day for optimism because the battle is fully joined, and the idea that big oil is unbeatable is no longer true.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben I think that it is impossible to think of a threat to social justice greater than what we are doing to the earth’s atmosphere at the moment.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben It now appears that the fracturing of that ice is happening much more quickly than people previously thought, apparently at a slow melt.
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben According to new research emerging from many quarters that our continued devotion to growth above all is, on balance, making our lives worse, both collectively and individually
Bill McKibbenBill McKibben
Original quotes
From our community writers
Since you are gone, I collect the stars each night building my own night sky, so I have something to hold onto forever.
Laura ChouetteLaura Chouette Can anybody hear me? Are my words going to waste I need to believe there was a purpose to all the pain?
Allie MillerAllie Miller The universe hears what you say, but it knows what you mean.
Brianna PastorBrianna Pastor Enough of this. The next one I love will return my passion.
Iestyn TudorIestyn Tudor It’s unconditional; their chemistry is unconditional – forever.
Ophelia ScarlettOphelia Scarlett I love you so much that it hurts and that’s the problem I love you so much that it hurts.
Olivia CliffordOlivia Clifford Let’s always bloom, savor and delight others with our beauty.
Mariya FedulovaMariya Fedulova Shadows follow me the way a vulture stalks death. One small step ahead.
Danielle MontgomeryDanielle Montgomery
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More on needs
Americans have long recognized the need to protect our public lands and their vast resources
Barbara BoxerBarbara Boxer I think that everybody needs somebody to really look up to and know that even though you’re going through a tough time, you’ll get over it.
Bella ThorneBella Thorne Aim at perfection and nothing less. Need the best. Deserve the best. Those who say it’s not possible are the people who decided to settle.
Behdad SamiBehdad Sami Everything was happening all the time. You never needed television.
Barbet SchroederBarbet Schroeder There’s a lot of life on the planet that needs love, wants love, deserves love, in whatever capacity we are able.
Bellamy YoungBellamy Young A manager can’t act like a role model. They need to BE a role model.
Ben HorowitzBen Horowitz Life insurance is time. The time a man might not have. If he needs time, he needs life insurance.
Ben FeldmanBen Feldman The only weapon we have is our bodies, and we need to tuck them in places so wheels don’t turn
Bayard RustinBayard Rustin