James Gill: How Greta Thunberg could reduce her carbon footprint
By James Gill Oct 10, 2019 - 6:00 am
Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, speaks to guests during the Youth Climate Summit at United Nations headquarters, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez) ORG XMIT: NYEM218 Eduardo Munoz Alvarez
When a prophet of climate doom crosses paths with an oil-state congressman, sparks might be expected to fly.
Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old scourge of carboniferous adulthood, recently appeared on Capitol Hill to dress down a committee of which Louisiana's Garret Graves is a member.
The tone was civil enough, Graves not belonging to the Neanderthal wing of the GOP that denies mankind is warming the planet. In fact, Graves expressed some admiration for Thunberg's efforts but cut no ice when he pointed out that China is a much bigger environmental polluter than the USA.
That, of course, is true, but relative purity does not impress young idealists. Thunberg's expression lost none of its habitual sternness.
Activist teen Greta Thunberg chastises world leaders for climate inaction: 'How dare you'
She is the international face of a movement that is gathering enough momentum to give the oil patch the willies. Cleaner energy is the future, and oil companies are in such bad odor these days that English cultural institutions have quit accepting their sponsorship.
Even allowing for a certain amount of exaggeration from climate campaigners, it would be highly imprudent to discount warnings of an “existential threat.” Sure, the bien-pensants who issue those warnings are often smug and hypocritical, but melting glaciers don't lie.
Thunberg arrived in America after what purported to be a zero-carbon Atlantic crossing that began in Plymouth, a logical choice for a latterday puritan. Alas, this was not quite the Mayflower redux, for a European crew had to fly to this country and take Thunberg's solar-powered yacht back home. Thunberg would have left less of a carbon footprint by taking a plane.
Still, it would no doubt help the climate-change cause if we all bought solar-powered yachts, so, by all means, get yourself one.
When it comes to eco-humbug, actress Emma Thompson takes some beating. A few months ago she flew from Los Angeles to London just to take part in a demonstration organized by a group that calls itself Extinction Rebellion and is demanding more government action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
London is a hotbed of environmental activism these days, with young people furious with the old fogies they blame for leaving them with a screwed-up planet. The Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre have succumbed to pressure and cut ties with BP and Shell respectively.
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