The Gray Area with Sean Illing The sun will save us
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Sep 22, 2025 
In this conversation, climate activist Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and author of Here Comes the Sun, highlights the urgent need for action against climate change while offering a glimmer of hope. He discusses the astonishing growth of solar and wind energy, which have become the most affordable power sources. McKibben also reflects on the political landscape shaped by fossil fuel resistance, the lessons from Texas and Utah, and the promise of abundant clean energy to transform both the climate crisis and democracy itself.
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Limiting Warming Still Saves Millions
- Stopping global warming entirely is no longer feasible, but limiting it to survivable levels still matters deeply.
- Each tenth of a degree avoided protects roughly 100 million people from leaving a climatically comfortable zone.
California's Clean Energy Tipping Point
- California installed enough solar and batteries that most days it supplies over 100% of its power from clean energy for long stretches.
- The state now uses about 40% less natural gas for electricity this summer than two years ago.
Politics Can't Stop A Global Energy Shift
- Trump and allied Republicans are accelerating fossil-fuel friendly policies, but global clean-energy momentum continues.
- China is taking the lead in manufacturing and deploying technologies first developed in the U.S.
