CLIMATE CHANGE
Everything You Think You Know About the Climate Activists is Wrong
What do they hope to achieve?
When climate activists glue themselves to the frames of famous paintings, they aren't trying to win you over. It's too late. We can't recycle our way out of this crisis.
When they throw mashed potatoes at a Monet or interrupt Ted Cruz's appearance on "The View," they aren't hoping you'll buy a reusable water bottle.
When they strap themselves to a goalpost during a Premier League game between Everton and Newcastle, they don't expect you'll carpool home from the football match.
When they climb up the Dartford Crossing, shut down the entire bridge and block oil tankers, they aren't inviting you to eschew plastic grocery bags.
Chances are, you're already doing some of these things. If not, please begin. But climate change is a challenge for governments, not the individual. The activists do want your attention. They are giving the world a wake-up call, like throwing a drunk in a cold shower. We're all in a drunken stupor about to get hit by a bus. The bus has already run over our feet.
When I hear about activists throwing tomato soup or mashed potatoes at masterpieces, I think about how the artists might feel if they saw the effects of climate change on the places they loved.
One of the first paintings targeted by Just Stop Oil was van Gogh's Peach Trees in Blossom, 1889. In June, two activists entered the Courtauld Gallery in London and glued their hands to its frame.
The painting depicts a scene in Arles, France, where van Gogh stayed from Feb. 1888 until May 1889. The light, warmth, and rural environment inspired him to create over 300 paintings.
How would he feel seeing the ancient Provencal town suffer the worst drought in 500 years? Last summer, Arles baked under a heat wave, along with two-thirds of the continent of Europe. Scorching temperatures dried the soil until it cracked. Without rain, the orchards died.
Van Gogh had a temper. Humans have spoiled his refuge so severely it will never be the same. I think he might be angry enough to glue himself to the frame of his painting or even hurl some foodstuffs. I believe he would echo the words of the activists.
This is not the X Factor. We’re not trying to make friends here, we are trying to make change, and unfortunately, this is the way that change happens. (Alex De Koning, a spokesperson from the London-based activist group Just Stop Oil)
The only way that these protests will end is when our demands are met. When the government acts on the climate crisis, acts on fuel poverty and stands up for its own people. (Louis McKechnie, Just Stop Oil)
Just Stop Oil demands the U.K. immediately halt all future licensing consents for the exploration, development, and production of fossil fuels. They're also calling for subsidized public transport, new taxes on big polluters, and basic energy for all.
They're part of a global movement. Each climate activist group is making similar demands of their governments.
Other groups include the Letzte Generation (Germany), Save Old Growth (Canada), Renovate Switzerland, Fireproof (Australia), and Declare Emergency (United States). There are groups in Sweden, Norway, Italy, and France.
Declare Emergency urges President Biden to declare a formal state of climate emergency. This would allow him to reinstate the crude oil export ban Congress lifted in 2015.
Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) say a ban would boost domestic supply, lower gas pump prices, and help fight climate change.
If Biden declared an emergency, he could reroute funds to climate efforts without congressional approval. The declaration would kickstart the Defense Production Act to make homes energy-efficient, providing millions of jobs.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asks Biden to do for the climate what Trump did for the border — declare a national emergency to bypass legislative debate. We don't have time for bickering.
He can do many, many things under the emergency powers … that he could do without legislation.
Trump used this emergency for a stupid wall, which wasn’t an emergency. But if there ever was an emergency, climate is one. We have to do something about the climate. We don’t have any more time (Chuck Schumer).
The world's top energy body, the International Energy Agency (IEA), says we can still achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but there's no margin for delay. Nations must stop approving the development of new oil and gas fields beyond those already committed. They lay out a roadmap for getting there.
In 2018, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) corroborated their findings. They compared major climate models in a first-of-its-kind study. The final draft included the work of 91 researchers from 40 countries and cited more than 6,000 scientific resources.
Their conclusion?
The world cannot develop more oil and gas while limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celcius above preindustrial levels.
Is anyone listening? It would seem not.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushed gas and energy prices higher, prompting countries to find new sources.
The U.K. just awarded over 100 drilling licenses for oil and gas in the North Sea. Dutch authorities gave a privately owned Dutch company, ONE-Dyas, the go-ahead to develop its NO5-A gas field in the North Sea.
The recent push for new oil and gas — in the UK, Italy, Germany, and elsewhere- is exactly the opposite of what countries should be doing to build a resilient energy supply system that will shield consumers from geopolitical risks and energy market fluctuations in the long term. (IISD senior researcher, Angela Picciariello)
The United Nations reports that nations are failing to act to reduce warming. They say the planet is on track to hit nearly 3 degrees Celsius of warming within less than 80 years.
Who Funds the Climate Activists?
The descendants of some of the wealthiest families in America dig deep in their deep pockets to fuel the activism. The Climate Emergency Fund (CEF) began in 2019 with a $1 million grant from Aileen Getty, the Getty Oil heiress and philanthropist.
Some people never met a conspiracy theory they didn't like. They suggest Aileen Getty's presence as CEF co-founder means the oil industry is secretly behind the climate demonstrations. They say it's a plot to discredit the movement in a mountain of mashed potatoes and a swamp of tomato soup.
However, Getty was never in the fossil fuel industry and has dedicated her life to many climate-related philanthropic causes.
She's joined by Rory Kennedy, the eleventh and youngest child of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel. The third co-founder is Trevor Neilson, an investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Abigail Disney gave $200,000.
This year the CEF has doled out more than $4 million to dozens of climate organizations, including over $1.1 million to Just Stop Oil.
We are helping wealthy people who are freaked out by climate change because we all live on this planet to fund the most effective activism possible.
The activists have forced millions of people who don’t want to think about the climate emergency to think about it. No one is protesting art or sports, but the point is the house is on fire, this is an emergency. We can’t just enjoy beauty and fun and continue as we are while doing nothing about it, because at the moment we are accelerating off a cliff. (Margaret Klein Salamon, executive director of the Climate Emergency Fund).
We're in Code Red. This is not a great time to bring children into the world. If we continue living in denial, we're in for rude awakenings. I am not confident that humanity will cooperate enough to turn this around.
If you don't already, this might be a good time to start growing your own food. In the meantime, I'm grateful to the activists for ringing the alarm bell even if nobody listens.
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