Oil and Honey Ch 1-4

A spoon full of honey makes the climate change story go down.  In Oil and Honey, author and activist Bill McKibben eases the delivery of a frustrating story of efforts to prevent construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline by showcasing the development of an apiary with his friend, Kirk Webster. Without this balance of story telling, I don’t know if I could have kept trudging through the endlessly challenging story of the formation of 350.org and their abilities to organize people and protest against big oil.

I’m not quite certain of McKibben’s intent showcasing the story of his bee-keeping friend against his development as a climate change activist, but I do know what effect it had on me as a reader. First, reading about the honest development of an apiary from a personal viewpoint gave me a reprieve from the draining story of McKibben working as an activist. McKibben recounts the development and organization of 350.org with a group of undergraduate students from Middlebury College in Vermont. The group has achieved quite a lot since their development including organizing multiple worldwide demonstrations and helping to galvanize other climate change activist groups in brining attention to the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. However, this side of the story is not without struggle. Although the group has faced insurmountable power and influence of big oil, they have contributed to the stalling of construction. But these challenges set against them will likely never end. As a reader, it makes me feel grateful for their efforts and hopeful for their success, but fearful of what they’ve taken on and the challenges that lie ahead.

At just the right times, McKibben interjects with Webster’s story which shows a person committed to developing a sustainable, honest lifestyle through organic bee farming. Of course, Webster’s story is not without challenges as well. The apiary faces the impacts of extreme weather events caused by climate changes, threats of mites, the flooding of the honey market by cheaply produce honey from China, and developing practices devoid of using pesticides. Webster, with the financial support of McKibben, succeeds in developing an apiary that overcomes these challenges and at the same time minimizes it’s impact of the world that surrounds it. Simply, hearing about this story makes me want to keep reading. It is a story of hope through commitment to the land and community that is hopefully one that we all might gain a little inspiration from in the face of the challenges of climate change and our reliance on fossil fuels.