--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the States, the movement's actually…" description: "\"In the States, the movement's actually gotten much much much stronger. There really was no climate movement so to speak before that - I think because e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44e/bill-mckibben-1057_causes_in-the-states-the-movement-s-actually-go_557652.jpg" --- # In the States, the movement's actually gotten much much… ![“In the States, the movement's actually gotten much much much stronger. There really was no climate movement so to speak before that - I think because everybody assumed that reasonable heads would prevail and do the right thing - and why would you need to have a huge movement in order to cause our…” quote by Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44e/bill-mckibben-1057_causes_in-the-states-the-movement-s-actually-go_557652.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44e/bill-mckibben-1057_causes_in-the-states-the-movement-s-actually-go_557652.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44e/bill-mckibben-1057_causes_in-the-states-the-movement-s-actually-go_557652.jpg) > “In the States, the movement's actually gotten much much much stronger. There really was no climate movement so to speak before that - I think because everybody assumed that reasonable heads would prevail and do the right thing - and why would you need to have a huge movement in order to cause our leaders to deal with the most serious problem that they face. In a rational world you wouldn't. They would deal with it.” [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The climate movement has grown stronger, challenging the belief that rational leaders will act without public pressure. **In simple terms:** Climate movement is now strong. Key Takeaway Support activism to drive policy change. Themes environment activism politics leadership Mood urgent hopeful Type environmental activist When to use this quote - policy advocacy - community organizing - media campaigns Key Concepts social movements public pressure Questions to Reflect On - What motivates leaders to act on climate? - How can activism sustain momentum? A Different Perspective Rational actors may still resist change despite pressure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Leader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leader/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Right thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-thing/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [There hadn't really been a climate movement, per se. I think everyone spent twenty years thinking that if we just keep pointing out that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/there-hadn-t-really-been-a-climate-movement-per-se-i-think-everyone/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [ I'm probably the wrong person to ask. My partner in much of this work \[climate movement\], who really came up with the divestment campaign… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-m-probably-the-wrong-person-to-ask-my-partner-in-much-of-this-work/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [I believe that we are at the point now, in the United States, where a movement is beginning to emerge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/i-believe-that-we-are-at-the-point-now-in-the-united-states-where-a/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ There was a huge movement that led up to \[gay marriage legilization\], and I played a small role in the great scheme of things.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-verrilli-jr/there-was-a-huge-movement-that-led-up-to-gay-marriage-legilization/) [Donald Verrilli Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-verrilli-jr/) > [Companies must have a noble cause, and it's the leaders job to transform that noble cause into such an inspiring vision, that it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/companies-must-have-a-noble-cause-and-it-s-the-leaders-job-to/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [Cause we they leaders, and they the followers And we the nut-busters and they the swallowers'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/cause-we-they-leaders-and-they-the-followers-and-we-the-nut-busters/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [I urge the media to start referring to climate skeptics as what they really are: climate assholes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/i-urge-the-media-to-start-referring-to-climate-skeptics-as-what-they/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [I think that kind of urgency is what makes this stage of the climate movement really different from what it was even a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avi-lewis/i-think-that-kind-of-urgency-is-what-makes-this-stage-of-the-climate/) [Avi Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avi-lewis/) > [Any of us who work on the task of solving the climate crisis have at times an internal struggle between hope and despair. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/any-of-us-who-work-on-the-task-of-solving-the-climate-crisis-have-at/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [It's not reasonable for companies that have chief executives and board members who are paid very considerable sums to subsidise low pay through in-work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/it-s-not-reasonable-for-companies-that-have-chief-executives-and/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [I find very reasonable the Celtic belief that the souls of our dearly departed are trapped in some inferior being, in an animal, aplant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/i-find-very-reasonable-the-celtic-belief-that-the-souls-of-our-dearly/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“A reasonable looking guy with a sense of humour to go to parties with: surely that´s not too much to ask, is it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-alexander/a-reasonable-looking-guy-with-a-sense-of-humour-to-go-to-parties-with/) [Nick Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-alexander/) > [Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/time-which-wears-down-and-diminishes-all-things-augments-and/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [The shelves of many evangelicals are full of books that point out the flaws in evolution, discuss it only as a theory, and almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/the-shelves-of-many-evangelicals-are-full-of-books-that-point-out-the/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [“They were inconveniently reasonable, these women.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/they-were-inconveniently-reasonable-these-women/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) ## More by Bill McKibben > [I try not to be either optimistic or pessimistic. I try not to think about outcomes on that scale. My job, it seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-try-not-to-be-either-optimistic-or-pessimistic-i-try-not-to-think/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Oil companies are radical because they're willing to alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/oil-companies-are-radical-because-they-re-willing-to-alter-the/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Whenever anyone challenges anything, the powers that be try to paint them as extremists or radicals or whatever. And I think that's actually nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/whenever-anyone-challenges-anything-the-powers-that-be-try-to-paint/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [My guess is that liberating the fossil fuel industry to frack anywhere they want will drive down the rate at which we're converting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/my-guess-is-that-liberating-the-fossil-fuel-industry-to-frack/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [What makes us different? We're the creature that can decide not to do something that we are capable of doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/what-makes-us-different-we-re-the-creature-that-can-decide-not-to-do/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“The snow was coming down so hard. It looked like the flakes were hurrying to get out of the sky so the next ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-snow-was-coming-down-so-hard-it-looked-like-the-flakes-were/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Most of the men and women who vote in Congress each year to continue subsidies have taken campaign donations from big energy companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/most-of-the-men-and-women-who-vote-in-congress-each-year-to-continue/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“I’ve sat behind a microphone and listened for decades as Americans learned to stop talking with each other and start shouting instead. No discussions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-ve-sat-behind-a-microphone-and-listened-for-decades-as-americans/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [People in low-lying countries like Bangladesh with almost 140 million people who are managing to feed themselves, whose carbon emissions can't really be calculated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/people-in-low-lying-countries-like-bangladesh-with-almost-140-million/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We're putting more carbon into the atmosphere than the atmosphere can absorb. And everybody told us when we started, coz we knew nothing when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmosphere-than-the-atmosphere-can/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Everything that the administration has done has been counterproductive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everything-that-the-administration-has-done-has-been-counterproductive/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We use the web to help people organize in the flesh, and then we take the images of those events and put them back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-use-the-web-to-help-people-organize-in-the-flesh-and-then-we-take/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [everyone knows, at some level, that the sharp line between "good weather" and "bad weather" is a fiction, that we need rain as surely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everyone-knows-at-some-level-that-the-sharp-line-between-good-weather/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [The thing about global warming is that you can address it on a great number of levels - in fact you have to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-thing-about-global-warming-is-that-you-can-address-it-on-a-great/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Where people aren't as deeply reliant on fossil fuel as in the United States, it's far easier for them to imagine change on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/where-people-aren-t-as-deeply-reliant-on-fossil-fuel-as-in-the-united/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) [Explore all 299 Bill McKibben quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## More Causes quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [I pray that wherever we are and whatever duties we have in the priesthood of God, we will be united in the cause to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/i-pray-that-wherever-we-are-and-whatever-duties-we-have-in-the/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [When you go to a club it's not about being black or white or heavy or thick. I'm shaking my ass because I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/when-you-go-to-a-club-it-s-not-about-being-black-or-white-or-heavy-or/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [Many patients imagine that they have tried everything. True, they have used many remedies, but they have never had the cause of their infirmity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-d-palmer/many-patients-imagine-that-they-have-tried-everything-true-they-have/) [Daniel D. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-d-palmer/) > [Get out from that kitchen and rattle those pots and pans. Well, roll my breakfast cause I'm a hungry man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-joe-turner/get-out-from-that-kitchen-and-rattle-those-pots-and-pans-well-roll-my/) [Big Joe Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-joe-turner/) > [This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/this-duo-inside-of-me-causes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-live-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [Jobs and money are never the primary cause of stress. Thinking, negative thinking causes stress. The real cause of all problems lie in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/jobs-and-money-are-never-the-primary-cause-of-stress-thinking/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [God hides Himself behind causes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-rollin/god-hides-himself-behind-causes/) [Charles Rollin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-rollin/) > [Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-delay/guns-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-juvenile-violence-the-causes/) [Tom DeLay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-delay/) > [I don't wear rubbers cause you can't catch it twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-norton/i-don-t-wear-rubbers-cause-you-can-t-catch-it-twice/) [Jim Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-norton/) > [I have no hesitation in saying that although the American woman never leaves her domestic sphere and is in some respects very dependent within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-have-no-hesitation-in-saying-that-although-the-american-woman-never/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Well the first time I performed, my mom was like how she is now when sees me on stage – all red, smiling from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-brown/well-the-first-time-i-performed-my-mom-was-like-how-she-is-now-when/) [Chris Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-brown/) > [I love a lot of things, a whole lot of things / Like / My cousin comes to visit and you know he's from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eloise-greenfield/i-love-a-lot-of-things-a-whole-lot-of-things-like-my-cousin-comes-to/) Eloise Greenfield > [Many companies have long contended that stress in the home causes productivity loss in the market place.. and it does. But research now reveals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/many-companies-have-long-contended-that-stress-in-the-home-causes/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [The miracle drugs (neuroleptics) cause the worst plague of brain damage in medical history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-breggin/the-miracle-drugs-neuroleptics-cause-the-worst-plague-of-brain-damage/) [Peter Breggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-breggin/) Browse all 9,070 Causes quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the States, the movement's actually gotten much much much stronger. There really was no climate movement so to speak before that - I think because everybody assumed that reasonable heads would prevail and do the right thing - and why would you need to have a huge movement in order to cause our leaders to deal with the most serious problem that they face. In a rational world you wouldn't. They would deal with it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill McKibben" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/in-the-states-the-movement-s-actually-gotten-much-much-much-stronger/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Causes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/in-the-states-the-movement-s-actually-gotten-much-much-much-stronger/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44e/bill-mckibben-1057_causes_in-the-states-the-movement-s-actually-go_557652.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44e/bill-mckibben-1057_causes_in-the-states-the-movement-s-actually-go_557652.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44e/bill-mckibben-1057_causes_in-the-states-the-movement-s-actually-go_557652.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the States, the movement's actually gotten much much much stronger. There really was no climate movement…” — Bill McKibben", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bill McKibben", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In the States, the movement's actually...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/in-the-states-the-movement-s-actually-gotten-much-much-much-stronger/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/in-the-states-the-movement-s-actually-gotten-much-much-much-stronger/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```