One has to wonder how many took long fossil fueled trips just to raise their fists in socialism
The Future Is Calling, and It Says Act Now or We’re All Fucked
On Wednesday, young climate activists rushed the main stage at the United Nations climate talks in Madrid in protest. The talks—dubbed COP25 in UN-speak—are the latest iteration of a 25-year exercise in futility, broken promises, and negligence. And young adults are sick of it.
Carbon emissions have continued to rise to record highs almost every year despite dire warnings. Greta Thunberg urged those gathered at COP25 to listen to the warnings from scientists, but the group of young adults on the stage were a more potent reminder of what those reports say. They’re data incarnate, the people who have to live with the findings in those science reports and the choices we make.
So, black power fists or
But at the dawn of the most important decade in human history, this type of connection between small islands and young adults holds the promise of a realignment of power. Climate talks (and world governments in general) continue to be under the sway of fossil fuel interests, subsidizing our demise. Without a realignment in power and priorities, we’re screwed. Because make no mistake, unchecked climate change will eventually come for all us without the ability to buy a private jet or Cybertruck. Young adults and small islands will just be the first to feel its wrath and live with the impacts the longest.
“Small islands don’t need to be told to be ambitious because, for us, climate change is an emergency that already affects our lives today,†Miguel van der Velden, a 22-year-old climate activist from Aruba, told Earther via WhatsApp message. “But I think that the youth movement will be essential for raising ambition in the Global North.
I’m doubting Miguel took a sailboat to Madrid. Further, tourism is the primary driver of Aruba’s economy, with just about everything linked to it. Perhaps we need to shut down the airport, the cruise ship ports, the construction, hotels, etc, so Aruba can be carbon neutral, right? Oh, wait, no, they just want the redistributed cash.
