VOA标准英语2010-Environmental Writer Turns Words into Act

Activist¹ launches worldwide campaign to fight climate change

Rosanne Skirble | Washington, DC 19 April 2010

Bill McKibben at a rally in New York's Times Square - one of over 5,200 events in 181 countries organized by 350.org for the 'International Day of Climate Action.'

Related Links
350.org
U.S. Global Change Research Program

"I went around the world looking for hopeful places to bring back to America to say that our way is not the only way of organizing things in the world..."

 

On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, we live on a warming planet. 

Scientists say that warming is linked to increasingly severe droughts, floods and storms and slowly rising ocean levels. Bill McKibben was one of the first voices to warn of climate change two decades ago in his 1989 book, "The End of Nature." He is still speaking out.

Early lessons

McKibben was born in 1960 in Lexington, Massachusetts, the birthplace of the American Revolution.

During his summers in high school, McKibben led tours on the Lexington battlefield telling the story of American democracy and freedom. He says the experience taught him a valuable history lesson.

"I've never confused dissent² with the lack of patriotism³; if anything, just the opposite. You know the people I was talking about showed their patriotism by dissenting⁴ from big power."

350.org
In 2006, Bill McKibben led 1,000 people across his home state of Vermont to demand action on climate issues.

Nature in peril⁵

After graduating from Harvard with a degree in journalism⁶, McKibben spent several years as a magazine columnist⁷ before moving to a remote part of New York state. He says that's where he fell in love with the wild woods.

"And it was striking me very hard, the sudden intuitive understanding that it wasn't so wild anymore, that people were changing the temperature of that place, and hence the seasons and the flora⁸ and the fauna⁹."

That insight was the basis for "The End of Nature," the first book on global warming written for a general audience. McKibben says he thought that if he simply pointed¹⁰ out ecological¹¹ problems, people would do something about them.

"I was a 27 year old and more than a little naive¹². I completely failed to understand the depth of the kind of cultural transformation¹³ that we were going to have to make if we were ever going to deal with climate change."

Explaining climate change

Nevertheless, "The End of Nature" established McKibben as an environmental writer and he has written a dozen more books addressing climate change from many different angles.

Henry Holt & Company
Bill McKibben gives Earth a new name in his latest book: 'Eaarth: Making Life on a Tough New Planet,' to reflect earth's new warming reality.

"I wrote about population. I wrote about popular culture and television and nature. I went around the world looking for hopeful places to bring back to America to say that our way is not the only way of organizing things in the world, on and on and on."

In his latest book, "Eaarth: Making Life on a Tough New Planet," McKibben says he purposely spells Eaarth in the title with two 'A's to underscore how much our world has changed. He says global warming is no longer a threat, but a new reality.

"We see rapid melt of ice at the poles. We see rapid melt of glaciers¹⁴. We see the acidification of sea water. We see more evaporation¹⁵ into the atmosphere.  That means increased drought in arid¹⁶ areas. But it really means increased downpour and deluge¹⁷ and flood one place after another."

Stepping up the fight

McKibben says environmentalism alone can no longer counter the excesses of the American consumer culture.

He says the movement is not powerful enough to deal with global climate change and the overload¹⁸ of carbon in the atmosphere largely from the burning of coal, gas and oil.

To do that, he says, a price must be put on energy, "…to make fossil fuel reflect in its cost the damage it does to the earth."

350.org
Bill McKibben founded 350.org with students at Middlebury College in Vermont, where he is scholar-in-residence.

These are fighting words for Bill McKibben. In 2006, he led 1,000 people across his home state of Vermont to demand new laws on global warming.

A year later, he got six Vermont college students to work with him on a national campaign called "Step It Up" that inspired 2,000 demonstrations¹⁹ across the country. McKibben didn't stop there.

He founded 350.org, a global grassroots advocacy group. The goal is to spread the message that 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is too much.

"It is a very tough number, because we are already past it. We are [at] 385. And we want to have actions and rallies and events and art and music in every nation on earth to just try and take this number and at the very least make sure that humanity knows what its bottom line is."

Grassroots to global

350.org's International Day of Climate Action in October last year included 5,200 such events in 181 countries.  McKibben says, this October, 350.org has similar plans for a global work party.

350.org
This march on the Madison, Wisconsin state capitol was among 2,000 events in the 2007 Step It Up Campaign.

"All over the world people will be in their communities putting up solar panels, digging community gardens, not because we think we can solve this problem one project at a time, but because we think we need to send a message to our leaders [that] we're getting to work, what about you?"

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which would require the nation's industries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions²⁰ by 83 percent over the next four decades. 

The bill is stalled in the U.S. Senate. McKibben says the challenge, simply put, is that saving the earth will require political will.

He hopes communal²¹ voices like 350.org that promote activism across the globe can help turn the tide of climate change before it is too late.

 

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

3 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

4 dissenting   

adj.不同意的

参考例句：

• He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
• A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。

5 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

6 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

7 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

8 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

9 fauna   

n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物，动物区系

参考例句：

• This National Park is an area with unique fauna and flora.该国家公园区域内具有独特的动物种群和植物种群。
• Fauna is a biological notion means all the animal life in a particular region or period. 动物群是一个生物学的概念，指的是一个特定时期或者地区的所有动物。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

12 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

13 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

14 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

15 evaporation   

n.蒸发，消失

参考例句：

• Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。
• Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗，由此可以蒸发散热。

16 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

17 deluge   

n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥

参考例句：

• This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候，这条小溪能变作洪流。
• I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。

18 overload   

vt.使超载；n.超载

参考例句：

• Don't overload the boat or it will sink.别超载，否则船会沉。
• Large meals overload the digestive system.吃得太饱会加重消化系统的负担。

19 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

20 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

21 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。