Greta Thurnberg Shames Climate Hypocrites. It May Cost Her The Nobel Peace Prize.
Teenaged climate icon Greta Thurnberg has been converting thousands to the environmental cause, but not every anti-climate change activist is thrilled with her sudden rise to fame.
Reuters reports that Thunberg has made enemies among the old school eco-agitators with her “confrontational” style, largely because Thurnberg calls out climate “hypocrites,” including those activists, like Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio and former Vice President Al Gore, for taking carbon-spewing private flights to major environmental conferences — and, really, using airplanes at all.
The new “green generation” has commercial and private air travel in its sights, not simply because airplanes consume fossil fuels and emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which they claim is slowly warming the planet, but because they oppose widespread industrialization altogether and view saving the environment as a side benefit of instituting major economic change across the globe.
As committed as they are to battling climate change, some are even more committed to battling “capitalism,” which they seem to believe is the only reason we have “man made climate change” (even though Communist states often are forced to embrace inefficient industry). The authors of the Green New Deal, for example, propose that the United States eliminate domestic air travel by fiat, replacing it with coast-to-coast, government-run train travel.
Thurnberg has been aggressive in her opposition to air travel, pushing the hashtag #flightshame to name and shame those eco-lecturers who still rely on modern technology. Her colleagues were among those, for example, who called out Britain’s Prince Harry for claiming to be at the forefront of climate activism in an interview — even going so far a to encourage people to limit their procreation in the name of preserving the planet — right before he and his family boarded a private jet to Elton John’s European villa.
Late last year, Thurnberg, who even took a ship to the United Nations General Assembly (she may take a shared commercial flight home), tweeted that she was dedicated to seeing that her generation used airplanes only for emergency travel.
“My generation won’t be able to fly other than for emergencies, in a foreseeable future if we are to be the least bit serious about the 1,5° warming limit,” she said on social media. “I will try to make it to as many places as possible without flying. And also participate via video link.#istayontheground.”
“Flight shaming” doesn’t sit well with old school climate activists, who, as conservative news organizations have often pointed out, don’t live quite the stripped-down existence of their more modern brethren. And, Reuters reports, a number of those activists have ties to the Nobel committee and may take the opportunity to block Thurnberg, generally considered to be a frontrunner for the Peace Prize, from taking the medal and the substantial financial reward for her work.
“The problem is that the principle of ‘flight shame’ brings her chances … down. Shame is not a constructive feeling to bring about change,” one insider told the media company.
Conservatives have criticized Thurnberg for pushing an environmental agenda that masks major economic change at the behest of socialists and for parroting dire warnings of an environmental apocalypse that likely isn’t in the cards. But conservatives aren’t able to restrict Thurnberg in any way. This criticism from the Left, on the other hand, might have serious consequences.
The Nobel prizes are awarded next week and Thurnberg is oddsmakers favorite for the Peace Prize so far.
