Thom Hartmann - Conversations w/ Great Minds - Bill McKibben, 350.org P 2

[thomhartmann]

Run time: 12:31 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqBL97RzPtE   Posted on YouTube: August 29, 2011 By YouTube Member: TheBigPictureRT Views on YouTube: 25   Posted on DU: August 29, 2011 By DU Member: thomhartmann Views on DU: 919

 
For tonight's "Conversations with Great Minds" - Thom is joined by author, environmentalist, and activist Bill Mckibben. In 1988, he wrote "The End of Nature" - the heir to Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" - and since then has gone on to write more than a dozen noteable books about the environment and our human impact on it. He is the co-founder and Chairman of the Board of the grassroots climate campaign 350.org, which has coordinated 15,000 rallies in 189 countries since 2009. In 2010, the Boston Globe called him "the nation's leading environmentalist" and Time magazine described him as "the world's best green journalist." And recently he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His latest book - "Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet" - is a guide to living on our fundamentally altered planet.

The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT TV & FSTV "live" 9pm and 11pm check www.thomhartmann.com/tv for local listings

[JDPriestly]

1. Warren Buffet is in the insurance business.

And he grew up in the fertile crescent of the US. I wonder what he thinks about the environment. It would seem to me that of all business, the insurance industry would gain the most from supporting the environmental movement. It's just a thought, but I wonder how difficult it would be to obtain the support of people in the insurance industry for environmental causes -- especially after this year of catastrophes.

[spooked911]

3. Good point. I have heard that insurance industries are taking a beating from climate change

so hopefully they can act as an important counterweight to the oil/gas/coal business

[JDPriestly]

4. I used to do fundraising, so I automatically think about who

might be motivated to give to a cause that I like.

The insurance industry should like environmental causes.

Not only do they lose money when their are a lot of disasters, but they think mathematically and would understand the economics of global warming -- what it will mean for their profits and the wellbeing of the world's citizens.

[spooked911]

5. yes, though they should actively lobby the govt on GW, not just donate

they have lost a bunch of money from various disasters lately, I can't see how this doesn't affect them, unless they are getting paid off elsewhere, like the too big to fail banks.

[spooked911]

2. this guy gives a great explanation of how urgent it is to confront climate change

we need to get off fossil fuels asap!!!