Let’s Give Thanks Today For Climate Activists — Their Voices Still Ring Strong In Our Turbulent Times – CleanTechnica

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My mother would say we’re in a “mess.” It’s very difficult to have climate conversations right now, with so many climate deniers and fossil fuel shills preening at the daily news about Trump 2.0. Yet climate activists have shaken themselves off and come back to the forefront, ready to advocate to save this nation, its people, and life on Earth. They know we all must adopt a less destructive environmental path to the future, and climate activists are fortifying themselves for the fight of their lives.

So on this day in which we give thanks, all me to give a shout-out to individuals and organizations that continue to make the climate crisis visible and the path we need to take to renewables clear and unwavering.

Climate Activists Who Deserve Our Thanks

Bill McKibben is one of the most productive all-around climate activists. He says he has undertaken writing about the climate crisis because he thinks “we’re in the most important few years in the most important story of the history of our species, and one of my parts is to spread information.” The other part of his work is to organize action, and he insists that “2025 is going to be a banner year.” He founded 350.org, a non-profit that works toward a safe climate and a better future. The non-profit advocates for a prosperous and equitable world built with the power of ordinary people, driven by renewable energy, and rooted in justice.

The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg continues to amaze me. She started by protesting alone outside of her school. Now Fridays for Future a dynamic global student movement pushing for immediate action on climate change through active campaigning and advocacy. It was chosen as UN Champion of the Earth for inspiration and action because of its role in highlighting the devastating effects of climate change. In 2019 she sailed across the Atlantic to attend the UN climate conference and was deemed Time magazine’s Person of the Year later that same year.

When Al Gore lost his bid for the US Presidency because the US Supreme Court intervened due to hanging chad issues in Florida (that intervention violated the Fourteenth Amendment, by the way, due to using disparate vote-counting procedures in different counties), he conceded with grace and dignity. His work continued with the film, An Inconvenient Truth, which made a compelling case for the climate crisis and why it is imperative that we solve it. Later he founded the Climate Reality Project to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every sector of society. They recruit, train, and mobilize people of all walks of life to work for just climate solutions that speed energy transition worldwide and open the door to a better tomorrow for all.

Michael Mann is the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth & Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania with a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication. He is also director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media. I have always found Dr. Mann to be a brilliant scientist who’s also very approachable. I’ve reached out to him several times to see if he’d comment on a trending climate news story, and he always responds with good nature and seriously deep analysis.

The Keeling Curve is the record of atmospheric CO2 from the Mauna Loa Observatory, starting in 1958. The carbon dioxide data on Mauna Loa constitute the longest record of direct measurements of CO2 in the atmosphere. They were started by C. David Keeling of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at a facility of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA started its own CO2 measurements in May 1974, and they have run in parallel with those made by Scripps since then.

Doesn’t the name “The Union of Concerned Scientists” stand alone in its persuasive ability? How would anyone dispute a group of scientists who have voluntarily come together to tell us the doggone truth? Climate change, they say, has now risen in importance to become “one of the most devastating problems humanity has ever faced—and the clock is running.

I’ve followed the Environmental Defense Fund, like, forever. They’ve been instrumental over the years in making nature-based issues transparent for a mass audience. Now, with corrupt Trump returning to the executive office, they continue to fight on, saying, “We will not waiver in our fight against Trump’s extreme climate agenda for the communities and places we love.” I love their resilience at a time when so many progressives have chins on their chests in despair.

The National Resources Defense Fund (NDRC) uses science, policy, law, and people power to “confront the climate crisis, protect public health, and safeguard nature.” That’s speaking my language, for sure.

The Nature Conservancy started out with grassroots action in 1951. Since then TNC has grown to become one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world. They boast more than a million members and the dedicated efforts of our diverse staff and over 400 scientists; they impact conservation in 81 countries and territories: 40 by direct conservation impact and 41 through partners.

When you think about it, the foundation of all climate activism has to start with the food we eat. I’ve been a fan of the Food Tank for a while now. It’s the world’s fastest growing global non-profit community working towards positive transformation in how we produce and consume food. As one of the food and agriculture movement’s most dynamic conveners and most impactful research and advocacy organizations, they educate, advocate, and collaborate with local partners to amplify on the ground solutions. And I really appreciate the thoughtfulness that goes into President Dani Nierenberg’s newsletter and podcasts.

The Independent’s inaugural list of the world’s foremost environmentalists, which was published earlier this year to coincide with Climate Week NYC, was a dynamite way to highlight and salute the movers-and-shakers who stand tall as climate activists.

Earthjustice’s Fossil Fuels Program is nobly taking on the fossil fuel industry’s efforts to pursue new paths to profit. Earthjustice continues to make clear that the fossil fuel industry is accelerating the climate crisis and continuing to cause devastating harm to marginalized communities.

I’m also thankful for the straight-talkin’ Michael Moore, whose Substack cuts immediately to the core of any issue. He reveals the essence of arguments in a way that we already knew but had been media-beaten into failing to see. He knows that we aren’t taking the climate crisis seriously enough as a nation, yet he infuses humor in his articles to help us laugh a bit at ourselves, too.

And let’s give thanks for the way we were, when youth and idealism seemed as if it would prevail on this Thanksgiving Day.