350.org
is an
international
environmental
organization.
[1]
It was started by author
Bill McKibben
,
[2]
with the goal of building a global
grassroots
movement
to fight against
global warming
and the
climate change denial
of
global warming
. However the main goal is to lower the emissions of
carbon dioxide
[3]
[4]
and other
greenhouse gases
in order to avoid climate change problems.
The name 350.org comes the
research
of
scientist
Dr.
James Hansen
. He wrote in a
scientific
paper in 2007 that the level of carbon dioxide (CO
2
) in the
atmosphere
should not be higher than 350 parts-per-million (ppm). According to scientific research this is a safe
maximum
to avoid a climate
tipping point
.
[5]
[6]
[7]
350.org works with over 300 other organizations around the world.
[8]
[9]
It has had people supporting the organization as "messengers".
[10]
[11]
Among them are
Archbishop
Desmond Tutu
,
Alex Steffen
,
[12]
[13]
Bianca Jagger
and
David Suzuki
.
Van Jones
and
Gus Speth
are on 350's U.S. Advisory Council.
[14]
350.org has a
Board of Directors
.
350.org is strongly against the
Keystone XL
pipeline
project. The pipeline is currently being built to transport
tar sand
oil
from
Canada
through the
United States
to
oil refineries
in the
Gulf of Mexico
. NASA
climatologist
James Hansen described the Keystone XL pipeline as "game over" for
the planet
, and called the amount of carbon stored in Canadian tar sands a "fuse to the largest carbon bomb on the planet".
[15]
350.org wants colleges and
universities
, as well as cities,
religious
institutions, and
pension
funds to withdraw their
investments
from
fossil fuel
companies. They propose the
money
should rather be invested in
sustainable
companies.
"If it is wrong to
wreck
the climate, then it is wrong to
profit
from that wreckage. We want institutions to immediately freeze any new investment in fossil fuel companies, and
divest
from direct ownership and any commingled funds that include fossil fuel public equities and corporate
bonds
within 5 years."
The
Do The Math
movie
[17]
is a 42-minute
documentary
about the movement, the science behind the
climate
crisis and how to end the age of fossil fuels.
The organization's efforts continued into 2012 with a Climate Impacts Day on May 5th of
worldwide
series of rallies under the slogan "Connect the Dots," to draw attention to the
links
between climate change and
extreme weather
.
350 helped helped organize the
People's Climate March
, which took place on September 21, 2014.
[18]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
350.org
.