Heading into April is a special time for most environmentalists and community organizers. We continue to witness the special changes of the season and Spring showing up left and right. Not to mention the momentous occasion of celebrating Earth Day and why we keep showing up to this important calling of protecting the earth and its inhabitants. And when it comes to dedicated activists we think of Colorado Springs leader Bill McNally, the April Climate Hero of the Month we are celebrating!
“I have been fighting for the environment since the late 1960’s and 70’s,” says Bill. “It was small back then. Plant five or ten trees and we would fulfill our requirement of being a good citizen. At least that is what my old scout leader used to say. That was enough. Give five minutes here, 20 there, we all do our part, and we will win.”
Bill got started with 350 Colorado in April 2020. The Colorado Springs Team was a relatively newer group at the time, and activating for state-level actions like keeping the pressure on Polis to pass SB21-200 in its entirety. They also were working on critical local issues, like urging City Council to support a Green New Deal.
The biggest campaign that Bill and 350 CS Team organizers took part in, was closing down the nearly 100 year old Martin Drake Coal Plant that sat squarely in Colorado Springs. The transition from dirty fuels to cleaner, sustainable alternatives is often a long and arduous battle, and the team faced just that in their journey, which started years before.
But over time, usually at least a dozen or so people showed up at every Utilities Board meeting to give testimony in support of more transparency about the pollution from the plant, and to push for the plant to be decommissioned. Pressure like this, paired with public education efforts, and enabled by such dedicated organizers like Bill, was the catalyst that caused the coal plant to be shut down at least 13 years earlier than the previous earliest date ever stated by the CS Utilities that it might be. Not to mention lots of pollution, GHG emissions, and community health impacts avoided! The last load of coal was burned in the summer of 2021, and the facility was officially closed in September 2022.
They succeeded in not only organizing a wide range of community members, but in bringing in other local groups to work together on this issue. Our power lies in shared efforts to do good, and Bill firmly believes in this.
He eventually joined the 350 CS Team Leadership Council (LC) in 2023, helping the Team Coordinator and other LC members lead activities and implement the team strategic plan. He has helped organized multiple free tours for the team at the Nixon Power Plant in Fountain, which is set to close by 2030. He is also a reliable figure at team meetings, connecting with new people and helping bring people into the movement.
One of Bill’s superpowers is staying informed on what is happening and sharing it back to others on the team. The climate movement has a million moving parts, and we can’t pay attention to everything at once, but with dedicated minds like Bill’s we can break things up and make sure efforts are being evenly distributed to better focus on 1-2 things. To this day Bill continues to be a watchdog for the decommissioning and land remediation process of the Martin Drake plant site.
“Just break things down to simple tasks. Spend five minutes, or 20, complete that task. It took nothing out of your day, but that small activity allowed twenty others to fulfill that one task that they needed to complete,” says Bill. “In my mind, that is what citizens organizing is all about.”
“Over the years Bill has worked hard to stay engaged through the changes and still make a difference in his community and Colorado. Building this muscle in organizing is essential for the long-haul!” – Chelsea Alexander, 350 Colorado Movement Building & Volunteer Director
Bill ends most of his public comments with the phrase, “The planet will survive, but will we?” “That is our binary choice. It is what drives me,” says Bill. “I want my granddaughters to be able to live as long as I have, in a world that will accommodate them. Not to rot in some kind of hell induced for short term profits for a few.”
Thank you so much Bill for all your years of hard work, guidance, ideas, and efforts to make things run smoothly! We are grateful for your dedication and ability to navigate ebbs and flows in the organizing scene.
Written by Chelsea Alexander