Awareness is oversimplifying it but it’s a necessary first step for any major movement/revolution. What can one hope to achieve if people won’t acknowledge the problem? Greta highlighted the importance of climate change to many people around the world, and I’m sure she’s a role model to many as well. Many more people are plant based/vegan now compared to 5 years ago. Companies are profit driven so every little change from people makes a difference. It’s the power of awareness that can push people to change for their new found beliefs.
We had awareness in the 70’s but we had action then too. We had the clean-air act passed, the clean water act, the EPA created and I’m sure around the same time coutnry’s in the rest of the world also did similar things. Spreading “awareness” today is just self-aggrandizing and benefits no-one but yourself as the figurehead.
Are you implying that she was doing it for the fame? She missed out on school and a lot of normal teenager activities because she prioritised spreading awareness on climate change. Regardless of the reasons why she or anyone is doing it, her impact is undeniable. I think assuming the worst isn’t fair. It’s not like she has been in scandals related to corruption. Many celebrities and politicians are way more full of shit. She is consistently doing what she can for the environment.
To address your other point: Yes, there has been some actions taken in the past. Yes, there has been some awareness on it spread in the past. No one is saying she’s the first one to do so. The point is those actions and bits of awareness wasn’t enough. That’s why we are where we are. That’s why polar caps are melting at record speed. Amazon forest is the smallest it has ever been. (90+% of the space is used for animal farming). That’s why our global climate is hotter and wilder than ever (record high global average temps last month).
If you don’t think these things are an issue then I can see why spreading awareness would feel like a waste of time. However, if that’s the case then I would strongly recommend looking up the effects and potential dangers of the direction we’re headed regarding climate change. Our future generations are fucked.
You are making an assumption that lack of “awareness” is the problem that needs to be solved. Meanwhile icecaps are melting and mass extinction is occurring, we are already aware of it! Multiple European Governments and energy industries are enabling it! But instead of asking why Germany is still building Coal plants, she is staging fake protests where she “gets arrested” for a photo-op.
That’s exactly why there needs to be enough people to vote for the environment focused government party, if any. There’s no downside to raising awareness when there are still people out there who are in denial of climate change. I did not know about the fake protest arrests. Imo, no one can be perfect in the way their convey their message. Convincing the mass is a difficult thing to do. People will have various opinions on what’s the right way to protest/spread the message. The important thing is that effort is spent, and it’s having an impact. Lastly, we don’t need to focus on one issue at a time as a society. Different groups of people can be responsible for different tasks.
I think I’ve beaten this horse enough. So I’ll just say that while you and I are certainly both environmentalists, I disagree that people like Greta doing what she has been doing, is very useful since it takes a fatal systematic problem and individualizes it for, imo, dubious reasons.
Awareness is oversimplifying it but it’s a necessary first step for any major movement/revolution. What can one hope to achieve if people won’t acknowledge the problem? Greta highlighted the importance of climate change to many people around the world, and I’m sure she’s a role model to many as well. Many more people are plant based/vegan now compared to 5 years ago. Companies are profit driven so every little change from people makes a difference. It’s the power of awareness that can push people to change for their new found beliefs.
We had awareness in the 70’s but we had action then too. We had the clean-air act passed, the clean water act, the EPA created and I’m sure around the same time coutnry’s in the rest of the world also did similar things. Spreading “awareness” today is just self-aggrandizing and benefits no-one but yourself as the figurehead.
Are you implying that she was doing it for the fame? She missed out on school and a lot of normal teenager activities because she prioritised spreading awareness on climate change. Regardless of the reasons why she or anyone is doing it, her impact is undeniable. I think assuming the worst isn’t fair. It’s not like she has been in scandals related to corruption. Many celebrities and politicians are way more full of shit. She is consistently doing what she can for the environment.
To address your other point: Yes, there has been some actions taken in the past. Yes, there has been some awareness on it spread in the past. No one is saying she’s the first one to do so. The point is those actions and bits of awareness wasn’t enough. That’s why we are where we are. That’s why polar caps are melting at record speed. Amazon forest is the smallest it has ever been. (90+% of the space is used for animal farming). That’s why our global climate is hotter and wilder than ever (record high global average temps last month).
If you don’t think these things are an issue then I can see why spreading awareness would feel like a waste of time. However, if that’s the case then I would strongly recommend looking up the effects and potential dangers of the direction we’re headed regarding climate change. Our future generations are fucked.
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You are making an assumption that lack of “awareness” is the problem that needs to be solved. Meanwhile icecaps are melting and mass extinction is occurring, we are already aware of it! Multiple European Governments and energy industries are enabling it! But instead of asking why Germany is still building Coal plants, she is staging fake protests where she “gets arrested” for a photo-op.
That’s exactly why there needs to be enough people to vote for the environment focused government party, if any. There’s no downside to raising awareness when there are still people out there who are in denial of climate change. I did not know about the fake protest arrests. Imo, no one can be perfect in the way their convey their message. Convincing the mass is a difficult thing to do. People will have various opinions on what’s the right way to protest/spread the message. The important thing is that effort is spent, and it’s having an impact. Lastly, we don’t need to focus on one issue at a time as a society. Different groups of people can be responsible for different tasks.
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I think I’ve beaten this horse enough. So I’ll just say that while you and I are certainly both environmentalists, I disagree that people like Greta doing what she has been doing, is very useful since it takes a fatal systematic problem and individualizes it for, imo, dubious reasons.
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I don’t know. I assume because they needed to make up the gap from shutting down their nuclear plants and coal is cheap and pretty fast to get going, plus doesn’t require any “exotic” manufacturing like solar/wind need. https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/germanys-energy-consumption-and-power-mix-charts