Why Is There a Human Wind Turbine at the Eiffel Tower?!
350.org's 'Moving Planet' spurs global actions against climate change.
Oct. 5, 2011— -- The nonprofit organization 350.org says it is building a grassroots "movement" to address global warming. Following through on this description, on Sept. 24 it organized Moving Planet, a day of global actions expressing the theme of moving past and without fossil fuels. (The group's name refers to 350 parts per million, which scientists call the safe upper limit for atmospheric carbon. The current amount is approximately 390 ppm, they say.)
According to the organization, millions of people participated in more than 2,000 events in more than 180 countries. In Paris activists formed a human wind turbine near the Eiffel Tower. Other places saw mass marches and bicycle rides.
In Hanoi, Vietnam, hundreds of participants — many wearing the country's ubiquitous conical hats — spelled out "350 VIETNAM."
In Nisab, Yemen, a 90-year-old grandfather took his grandchildren on a walk to talk about their environment and the importance of protecting it for their future.
Moving from a human turbine to a human corral, on Nov. 6 350.org activists will be among protesters encircling the White House to demand President Obama stop a proposed $7 billion pipeline — known as Keystone XL — between Texas and the tar sands of Canada.
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