Phew!  Last night 350.org director Bill McKibben went head-to-head with Stephen Colbert–the conservative (and totally fictional) anchorman who hosts the nightly show The Colbert Report.

Everyone was a bit nervous and excited to see Bill get raked over the coals–many environmentalists have withered under Colbert’s steely gaze and acerbic wit.  We’re happy to say that Bill held his own, and emerged from the interview with his dignity intact.  If you missed it last night (or if you just want to re-live the glory) check out the video below:

Our friends in Panamá, Grupo Panamá Más Verde aren’t waiting to take action till October 24th.  A few weeks ago, they got together a group to do a reforestation project in the Panama Canal Zone.  Then, just last week, they completed an amazing feat – they banded together for the Panama International Marathon with the goal of running under 3 hours and 50 minutes – read on to see if they accomplished their goal!  The following are translations of guest blogs from 350 activists Raul Chang and Franco Fong from Panamá:

350 Trees for 350

On the morning of July 25, Panamá Más Verde and volunteers planted native trees to promote the 350 campaign.  The original goal was to symbolically plant 350 trees, but by the end we had planted almost double that amount.

The reforestation project was part of an initiative of the Panama Canal and the NGO PRODERENA to restore the watershed in the area. This was also the first activity about 350.org in Panama. Saludos más verdes desde Panamá – Greener greetings from Panama!

Running under 3:50 in Panama City

On August 9, The Panama International Marathon was celebrated along the beautiful coastline of Panama City, Panama.  Main drives and tollways were owned by marathon runners on a very tropical Sunday morning.

So a week before the race, I came up with the idea of participating with a coed team in the 5k relay event along the marathon route.  As a member of the Ultimate Frisbee Panama association and a local organizer of 350.org activities, our team was named Ultimate Panama 350.

Here in Europe, we’ve been linking up the continent from Berlin and Budapest.  Griet, our Dutch outreach coordinator, is working on www.350.org/nl (Dutch), and Gosia is putting final touches onwww.350.org/pl (Polish).  Klara helped a ton with getting www.350.org/sv(Swedish) off the ground.  It’s all part of the plan to be able to communicate with as many people as possible in their native languages to tell them about 350 and the chance to raise their voices on the 24th of October.

Not everyone waits around for us to start websites though.  I just got word from our Russian coordinator, Oleg, that friends in Ukraine are already out spreading 350 around the city and blogging before he’s finished working with them on a Ukrainian 350 site.  He’s incredibly excited about it – the choice quote from his email is “you wouldn’t believe how much progress was achieved there during the last 1,5 months.” Far be it from us to stand in the way of progress – go Ukraine!

Check it out at 350ukraine.livejournal.com/, and if you don’t happen to read the cyrillic alphabet, scroll down for some visual communication and arabic numerals that you may recognize…

There’s all sorts of incredible 350 activity happening across Asia! Check out the latest updates from Chern Chung, one of our awesome 350.org field organizers based in Penang Malaysia:

D’vol Dance Theatre was established in May 2008 by a group of young people who are passionate in street dancing. Started from only 3 dancing instructors, their group has been growing through the time and now, they have got 10 experienced instructors with more than 100 students. With their great passion in street dancing, they have always been wishing to channel their momentum into creating environmental awareness among youngsters.

Thanks to the almighty internet, Vron Yeoh, one of the founders of D’vol Dance Theatre, got connected to 350.org Malaysia. He came out with a very creative way of educating people about 350, which is by dance move, what they are really good at. Equipped with a good studio and devoted dance crews, they are going to choreograph a dance specially dedicated to 350.org.

While waiting for their 350 dance, go and check out their previous dance action by clicking here. Other than this inspiring effort, they have dubbed themselves as the 350 dancing trouper and have started spreading 350.org around dancing community in Malaysia. They are aiming to gather as many street dancing groups as they can to dance, to educate and to spread the 350 message on 24th October all around Malaysia. They intend to let the world know that dancing is not sheer entertainment; it is much much more than that. It is about team spirit, it is about determination, it is about commitment and of course, it is about environment and 350!!!!

This is a guest post from Samantha Bailey, South and Eastern Africa co-ordinator for 350.org

Mohammed Okala is from the village of Jambiani on Zanzibar, and he attended our 350 Youth Leadership Workshopin Johannesburg, South Africa. His flight to Joburg was the first he’d ever taken. He’s a tall, quiet man who radiates sincerity and integrity. During our 5 days together at the Workshop, he never stood up in the large group to share – until our very last night together. When he finished speaking, I sat with tears in my eyes and gooseflesh on my skin. Needless to say, he got a raucous applause from the group.

He spoke of how he didn’t feel confident talking to the whole group, because there were people there with much education and he had only done 3 years of schooling. He is a fisherman, and sometimes he takes tourists diving to earn a little cash. He does not understand all the science of climate change, but he had been noticing the deterioration of marine life on his island for many years.