This past Wednesday, a small but excited contingent of Bowdoin students made the trip to Portland for 350.org’s Do The Math tour, an initiative to spur environmental activism.

To readers who might be turned away by the premise of the event, I admit that I, too, was a bit skeptical at first.

I fully expected Bill McKibben, the keynote speaker (and Middlebury professor), to get on stage and beat us over the head with guilt. Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of guilt tripping, as well as thorough reminding that anthropogenic climate change is real, dangerous, and getting worse.

But that’s not what the rally was all about. It was much more powerful. It was about reconsidering what matters to us, because this business-as-usual course of action isn’t really a course of action at all. We know where that path leads, and anyone can tell you we don’t want to take it.

The power wasn’t in the acknowledgement that we are dangerously addicted to fossil fuels, or that companies thrive off of the status quo. 

For me, it came in the fact that in seven cities already, including Portland, this tour has sold out, and venues much larger than State Theater have been packed. Seattle’s mayor has promised to seek all possible methods to divest as quickly as possible, and our neighbors at Unity College have already taken that step. For me, it was a very real reminder that climate change is not a lost cause, and that I’m not alone in this belief. We have to fight any and every impulse to cave to what is easy, socially acceptable, or “practical.” On climate change more than any other issue, these words have become distorted and warped, such that they defend the one group we know to be evil: the fossil fuel companies.

If I walk by a table in Smith Union talking about divesting the school’s portfolio from fossil fuel stocks, and I keep walking by because I don’t want to be the only one stopping, what kind of statement am I making? I won’t raise the question of how I can live with myself, but hell, why shouldn’t I? 

First of all, I was reminded that I’m not the alone by any means, and any sort of powerful majority will constantly try to make you feel more isolated because it ensures complacency.

Secondly, I was forced to think—and this is what I really need to relay to you—about what it means to have “radical” views. Because I can now guarantee you, the only radical thing to do is nothing. In McKibben’s words, “Radicals work at oil companies. It is our job to check that radicalism.”

I wholeheartedly believe that, at least on climate change, there’s a right side to history and a wrong side. And I know if I sit by and watch things go by without trying to do something, I’ve placed myself firmly on the wrong side. Maybe we can live with this on certain issues, but when doing nothing means letting our planet fall to pieces, I feel a whole lot less radical.

So please, join me in getting on the right side of history. It’s the only bandwagon that you can’t be ridiculed for jumping on. Call for Bowdoin to divest. To quote Unity College President Stephen Mulkey, “The ethical choice is not to invest in industries that are destroying the future for our children.” 

We shouldn’t have to demand that Bowdoin make this choice; it should be a no-brainer. Get involved, sign the petition, and make the choice just a little bit easier for the College.

To end on a high note, here’s McKibben on the portrayal of fighting the fossil fuel companies as a David and Goliath story: “I said to myself, ‘Wait, I’m a Methodist. A Sunday school teacher. I know how that story turns out! David wins!’”

Peter Nauffts is a member of the  Class of 2015.

This past Wednesday, a small but excited contingent of Bowdoin students made the trip to Portland for 350.org’s Do The Math tour, an initiative to spur environmental activism.
To readers who might be turned away by the premise of the event, I admit that I, too, was a bit skeptical at first.
 I fully expected Bill McKibben, the keynote speaker (and Middlebury professor), to get on stage and beat us over the head with guilt. Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of guilt tripping, as well as thorough reminding that anthropogenic climate change is real, dangerous, and getting worse.
But that’s not what the rally was all about. It was much more powerful. It was about reconsidering what matters to us, because this business-as-usual course of action isn’t really a course of action at all. We know where that path leads, and anyone can tell you we don’t want to take it.
The power wasn’t in the acknowledgement that we are dangerously addicted to fossil fuels, or that companies thrive off of the status quo. 
For me, it came in the fact that in seven cities already, including Portland, this tour has sold out, and venues much larger than State Theater have been packed. Seattle’s mayor has promised to seek all possible methods to divest as quickly as possible, and our neighbors at Unity College have already taken that step. For me, it was a very real reminder that climate change is not a lost cause, and that I’m not alone in this belief. We have to fight any and every impulse to cave to what is easy, socially acceptable, or “practical.” On climate change more than any other issue, these words have become distorted and warped, such that they defend the one group we know to be evil: the fossil fuel companies.
If I walk by a table in Smith Union talking about divesting the school’s portfolio from fossil fuel stocks, and I keep walking by because I don’t want to be the only one stopping, what kind of statement am I making? I won’t raise the question of how I can live with myself, but hell, why shouldn’t I? 
First of all, I was reminded that I’m not the alone by any means, and any sort of powerful majority will constantly try to make you feel more isolated because it ensures complacency.
Secondly, I was forced to think—and this is what I really need to relay to you—about what it means to have “radical” views. Because I can now guarantee you, the only radical thing to do is nothing. In McKibben’s words, “Radicals work at oil companies. It is our job to check that radicalism.”
I wholeheartedly believe that, at least on climate change, there’s a right side to history and a wrong side. And I know if I sit by and watch things go by without trying to do something, I’ve placed myself firmly on the wrong side. Maybe we can live with this on certain issues, but when doing nothing means letting our planet fall to pieces, I feel a whole lot less radical.
So please, join me in getting on the right side of history. It’s the only bandwagon that you can’t be ridiculed for jumping on. Call for Bowdoin to divest. To quote Unity College President Stephen Mulkey, “The ethical choice is not to invest in industries that are destroying the future for our children.” 
We shouldn’t have to demand that Bowdoin make this choice; it should be a no-brainer. Get involved, sign the petition, and make the choice just a little bit easier for the College.
To end on a high note, here’s McKibben on the portrayal of fighting the fossil fuel companies as a David and Goliath story: “I said to myself, ‘Wait, I’m a Methodist. A Sunday school teacher. I know how that story turns out! David wins!’”
Peter Nauffts is a member of the  Class of 2015.