Seems to me insisting on the status quo is where the true madness lies.
Also, an IPCC spokesperson isn’t in a position to do political activism.
It struck me last week that, despite everything, we are still running motorcar (and motorcycle) races every day all around the world. Formula One, NASCAR, Gran Prix. We can’t even quit the most obviously stupid forms of greenhouse gas emissions.
It’s pretty likely the people who run Formula 1 are deniers. Wouldn’t be surprised about NASCAR either, from what I know of the politics.
Radical rhetoric, as she herself points out, isn’t going to do shit. Talk alone doesn’t do anything and the various powers in charge have made it clear that climate change isn’t a priority for a variety of reasons. Unless someone forces them, nothing significant is going to happen.
She’s just a kid. All she can do is state the obvious, which is more than the responsible parties in charge of the world can be arsed to do.
Matt_W
6548
Newsroom played this scene 5 years ago:
Yup. And 32 years ago a NASA scientist testified before Congress about the urgency of dealing with global warming.
We’re stuck in a time loop, except for some strange reason it keeps getting warmer and there are more fires.
One of the many things I love about Greta Thunberg is that, not only does she understand the climate change issue on the starkest of terms, she also understands that our current political and economic systems are completely incapable of addressing the problem. This is what she keeps trying to tell them — You can say you’re doing things to address the crisis but you’re only paying lip service. In order to actually address the crisis you have to be willing to completely break from the political and economic models that have been the context of your entire lives and because you will not do that, we will not be able to do anything to stay under 2 degrees of warming and all of your children will pay the price.
Tim_N
6553
I don’t really like this line of thinking in climate change activism, as it makes everyone reflexively think “ah well, we’re doomed” except for the anarchists.
Real social democracy with a strong price on carbon and land clearing can solve the problem without having to abandon capitalism. Of course, there are many roadblocks to achieving that but they are political not technical.
We need a war mentality like we had in WWII when we had gas rationing. Everyone needs to be willing to make major sacrifices.
I’m 60 so it won’t affect me too much, but I have a couple of grandkids who may live to the turn of the century and a bit beyond. They may experience some terrible things.
We need to train our children like Sarah Connor did so that our kids may endure the coming apocalypse and be one of the 1% or .1% of humanity that remains.
Yes, that is exactly what we need. I doubt we will ever get it, but it’s an appropriate response to the crisis.
Nesrie
6557
You should probably not watch the last movie.
It’s the only appropriate response, but barely anyone agrees that it wasn’t irresponsible magic.
Timex
6559
Well, eventually you will.
Aceris
6560
Indeed, there are plenty of examples of policy having a direct and substantial impact on carbon emissions (not that anyone has gone far enough yet) without implementing anticapitalist agendas. But the grassroots climate change movement has been taken over by people whose number one priority is not climate change.
