Students attended an interactive lecture, “Do the Math,” featuring author and environmentalist Bill McKibben in Portland on Nov. 7.

McKibben, who is traveling across the country, has a sustainable bus, along with other artists, musicians and actors who are all dedicated to spreading the message of preventing damage to the environment.

Each interactive environment consists of music and video, and attempts to leave listeners with the tools, resources and strategies necessary to help cut down on fossil fuel use.

The lecture focused on how fossil fuel corporations have more carbon dioxide than they should in reserves, which could badly damage the Earth if burned.

Everyone at the lecture was asked to join the movement to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and cut off its political and financial support by taking away fossil fuels from churches, schools and government.

Throughout the lecture, McKibben discussed how the fossil fuel industry is destroying the atmosphere by not being responsible with how much carbon it releases into the atmosphere.

Sophomore Meghan O’Rourke was one of Linfield’s students at the lecture, after being inspired by dealing with climate change from watching the movie “An Inconvenient Truth” in the eighth grade.

“Climate change is an issue that affects us all,” O’Rourke said in an email. “The Earth is our home, and if we don’t take care of it, then it won’t be able to take
care of us.”

O’Rourke was most inspired by the video clips at the lecture that showed people around the world, such as in Haiti and Pakistan, getting involved with climate change.

“If they can put time and effort into this cause, then Americans, who have significantly more resources to fix this problem, certainly can,” O’Rourke said.

O’Rourke is also involved on campus with environmental groups, such as Greenfield and the Tap That Campaign, which focuses on getting the entire campus to stop selling bottled water and to use reusable bottles instead.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done, but I believe it is possible if more people are willing to work together on these issues,” O’Rourke said.

Samantha Sigler

News editor

Samantha Sigler can be reached at
[email protected].