Grants and Grantees / Close-Ups / Sustainable Markets Foundation

In 1989, American environmentalist and author Bill McKibben published his groundbreaking book on climate change, The End of a Nature.  Today, his call for a fundamental change in how human beings interact with the environment resonates more loudly than ever, as people around the world realize the serious threat posed by global warming. 

Nearly two decades later, McKibben is not only writing about climate change, but also encouraging others to take action.  "I decided I wanted to do more and start a real political movement to help," said McKibben.  In January 2007, he and a team of six student organizers launched Step It Up 2007, a national campaign calling on the U.S. Congress to cut carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050.  On the Step It Up National Day of Climate Action on April 14, 2007-the largest day of protest about global warming in U.S. history-citizens made their voices heard at 1400 rallies and demonstrations in all 50 states.  Step It Up 2: Who's a Leader? built on the success of the first day of action when on November 3, 2007, organizers across the country sent 14,000 messages to members of Congress to urge them to be real leaders on climate change.  Presidential candidates including John Edwards, Governor Bill Richardson, and Senators Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton attended Step It Up events and issued statements of support for the campaign's goals.

Step It Up brought much-needed attention to the climate crisis and shifted the debate on Capitol Hill, but rapid melting of the polar ice caps that summer underscored the need for a more expansive movement and dramatic policy changes.  Out of Step It Up grew 350.org, a campaign to rally a global grassroots movement behind a new climate target: 350 parts per million (ppm), a number that leading scientists argue is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  To help the international community reach this goal, 350.org is harnessing the power of the Internet to organize a global movement. "We're going to organize the whole world on a budget of a million and half dollars," said McKibben. "Without the Internet it's not even possible to imagine doing this." 

350.org highlights the work of organizers around the world, from reef clean ups in Miami, Florida, to a youth climate change summit in Hyderabad, India.  With an International Day of Action planned for October 24, 2009, the 350.org team will continue connecting organizers around the world.  While global warming remains a global threat, 350.org is building a powerful and unified movement to bring about real and lasting change.