"Avoiding climate breakdown will require cathedral thinking, we must lay the foundation while we may not know exactly how to build the ceiling."
-- Greta Thunberg
If she wrote a school report on how she spent her Easter holiday, Greta Thunberg would put us all to shame by describing her efforts to insist the world do something immediately about climate change.
Last week in Rome, an estimated 25,000 young people heard her speak at one of her "Fridays for Future" climate strikes for school children. While there, she also addressed the Italian Senate and met the pope, who has a climate encyclical of his own. This was after addressing the European Parliament's committee on the environment earlier in the week in Strasbourg, France, following the tragic fire in Notre Dame Cathedral. And, this week she has been in London and will speak to some members of the British Parliament.
Not bad for a 16-year-old over spring break.
Greta's student strikes for the climate on March 15 pulled over 1.5 million onto streets around the globe, and rallies continue internationally.
Greta pulls no punches, doesn't fawn over politicians or celebrities nor does she sugar coat the facts. She points the finger of blame directly at the guilty, the adults, and few can excuse or refute what she says. Instead, amazingly, the scolded often honor and respect her. It is hard to characterize this small child as bold, yet I'd wager that few of the politicians, whom she's told to get off their backsides, have ever encountered a force quite like her.
"You lied to us, you gave us false hope, you told us the future was something to look forward to," Greta said in one of her appearances. "And yes, ...many of us can buy much more than we'll ever need. But the only thing we really need is a future. The saddest part is that many children aren't even aware of what fate we're facing. We won't understand it until it's too late."
She drilled into the Italian Senate, "You don't listen to science because you're only interested in solutions that will enable you to carry on like before, like now." She continued, "The climate crisis is both the easiest and the hardest issue we have ever faced, the easiest because we know what we must do: we must stop the emission of greenhouse gas. The hardest because our current economics are totally dependent on burning fossil fuels, and thereby destroying ecosystems in order to create an everlasting economic growth."
Standing in solidarity with Greta's commitment to climate justice, Fayetteville's folk music duo Kelly and Donna Mulhollan of Still on the Hill will promote climate awareness in song on the square at the Fayetteville Farmers' Market the mornings of May 7 & 9, and host a community gathering there from 11am until noon on May 11. The duo is inviting the media to see there is support for these young activists and asking folks to, "Bring your climate signs and your friends."
The Swedish teenager has repeatedly urged humans to panic because "the house is on fire!" Donna Mulhollan has written a song under that title with these opening lines:
With her 2 long braids and her sad green eyes
She speaks the truth ... mature and wise
She doesn't want our hope ... she wants us to panic
Time to rise up for our fragile planet.
In addition, Fridays For Future and Youth Climate Strike Arkansas have organized a demonstration for May 3 and on May 24 will join in the global strike. Both will be in Little Rock on the state Capitol steps at 10 a.m. Chloe Kirk, a Eureka Springs student, is the contact for more information at [email protected].
Congratulatory praise justifiably provokes Greta Thunberg. She points out, "In the last six months millions of school children all around the world ... have been school striking for the climate. But nothing has changed. In fact the emissions are still rising. And to be honest, there's no change whatsoever in sight, so why would they congratulate me?
"We children aren't sacrificing our education and our childhood for you to tell us what you consider politically possible in the society you've created; we haven't taken to the streets for you to take selfies with us and tell us that you really admire what we do. We children are doing this to wake adults u. We children are doing this to get you to act. We children are doing this because we want our hopes and dreams back."
What are we, the adults, doing?
Commentary on 04/23/2019