doi:10.7916/hz4g-ve64Oral history interview with Bill McKibben, 2021McKibben, Billoral historiesmixed materialPresidents--United StatesClimatic changes--United StatesClimate change mitigation--United StatesEnvironmental protection--United StatesEnvironmental policy--United StatesEnvironmental justice--United StatesEnvironmentalism--History.--United StatesGlobal warming--Law and legislation--United StatesRenewable energy sources--Law and legislation--United StatesMcKibben, BillObama, BarackKeystone XL ProjectConference of the Parties (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) Copenhagen, Denmark) 2009 : (15thBill McKibben reflects on his involvement in the environmental movement, and discusses his activities during the years of the Obama presidency. He recounts the development of his understanding of the scale of the threat of climate change and the power of the fossil fuel industry, and speaks widely about the recent history of movements for climate change mitigation, fossil fuel divestment, and environmental justice. McKibben describes the founding of 350.org, and provides details about major events, issues, and initiatives with which he was closely involved, including nonviolent direct action against the Obama administration's possible approval of the Keystone XL pipeline extension; relations between established environmental organizations and grassroots environmental groups like 350.org; the global, generational, and demographic expansion of the environmental movement; campaigns for the divestment of university endowments from fossil fuels; and the People's Climate March in September 2014 in relation to the United Nations Climate Summit. McKibben also considers the changing position of climate change in American politics, evaluates the Obama administration's energy and climate change policies, and explains the failure of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (Waxman-Markey). Also discussed are McKibben's encounters with Obama administration officials; the 2009 Copenhagen Summit; President Obama's relations with movement politics and response to pressure from grassroots activists; the Obama administration's support for domestic oil and gas production and embrace of natural gas as a transition fuel; the role of Indigenous communities in the environmental movement and in opposition to proposed pipelines; and the evolution of Obama's approach to climate change over the course of his two terms