“The sun travels 93 million miles to reach the earth – but none of those miles go through the Strait of Hormuz,” Bill McKibben told a standing room only audience at the Sanctuary for Independent Media, a telecommunications production facility dedicated to community media arts in North Troy.
His talk, and the conversation that followed moderated by Adirondack Park Agency (APA) board member Benita Law-Diao, is now online here.
McKibben is an environmentalist, author, and journalist who has written extensively on the impact of global warming. For many years he lived in the in Warren County in the Adirondacks and is now the Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College and leader of the climate campaign groups 350.org and the Third Act Movement.
The Sanctuary is located in an historic former church at 3361 6th Ave. They host screenings, production and performance facilities, as well as trainings in media production. It is also a physical resource, acting as a meeting space for artists, activists, and independent media makers of all kinds.
April 2025 to March 2026 was the warmest 12-month period on record in the continental United States, according to NOAA, but McKibben told the audience that there is hope and a path forward, away from fossil fuels and toward energy independence through renewable energy sources like solar power.
“That spirit of urgent hope lives in everything we do at the Sanctuary, starting in our own backyard,” Sanctuary organizers recently told supporters.
Since 2020 and in collaboration with Riverkeeper, young people in their Water Justice Lab have been monitoring the Hudson River for harmful contamination that threatens public health. These youth fellows test water, create environmental art, and educate the public about the shared ecosystem.
They are now fundraising to expand their Water Justice Lab program by adding Media Lab, hoping to inspire young people to be curious, think critically, and empower them to tell their stories.
By investing in the youth media program, they hope to achieve their goals of strengthening local environmental stewardship and cultivating a diverse and creative pool of future environmental justice and media leaders.
You can contribute to this work here. Your contribution will allow the Sanctuary to hire a media mentor and three high school fellows who will collect radio stories about the Water Justice Lab program for Hudson Mohawk Magazine, and create a short documentary film about local water ecology through the lens of local youth.
Read more about the impacts of Climate Change on New York.
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