Why I don't like Greta Thunberg; and whom I like instead.
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"For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realise that, in order to survive, he must protect it." - Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Thunberg Greta is a young climate activist who is internationally famous for headbutting world's politicians. She directly voices her demand for political leaders to enforce strict climate laws, reprimand polluting corporations, and to change the system. She wants to protect her future, like I, from a hot and scorching Earth, riddled with six months of intense droughts and six months of heavy rain, half of the landmass then submerged in water and all of the air polluted; where no art and no economy will thrive, and science will be constricted to only the job of ensuring the survival of humankind.
But the reason I do not like (not the same as dislike) her is because she only complains: she exposes a problem but does not invent a solution. She started her activism by spending her school days to protest outside of the Swedish Parliament and now has grown to speak loudly to councils of world leaders on international platforms, stating that global warming is increasing, carbon emissions are increasing, ice caps are melting, sea level is rising, plastic is swarming. But it really is very much obvious.
That would have been a really good monologue. But does it make for a good climate change speech?
She does not speak about bio-degradable plastic, ocean clean up initiatives, alternative fuels, alternative paper, sustainable non-vegetarianism, proper veganism, or loopholes in law that allow corporates to evade environmental responsibilities. She does not bring an awareness on how to combat the climate change she so dramatically talks about.
All Thunberg has ever done is state the obvious. We are at crisis, but how do we solve it? "Our house is still on fire?" So how do we put it out? The fallacy I see here is that it makes the youth believe that only talking about a climate crisis is enough. That innovating a solution is a responsibility solely lying on the shoulders of scientists.
But there are change-bringers in the world, too.
Boyan Slat:
Boyan Slat is the CEO of the non-profit entity The Ocean Cleanup. At age 16, he witnessed that there is more plastic in the sea than fish while diving in Greece. This provoked him to perform a deeper investigation. He studied why it is considered impossible to clean the litter from the ocean, and conceptualised a system that passively operates by using ocean currents to gather trash.
"Technology is the most potent of change. It is an amplifier of our human capabilities. Whereas other change-agents rely on reshuffling the existing building blocks of society, technological innovation creates entirely new ones, expanding our problem-solving toolbox." - Boyan Slat
"At an unveiling of a new cleanup system dubbed The Interceptor, Slat cited research from the company which showed that 1,000 of the world's most polluted rivers were responsible for roughly 80% of the world's plastic pollution. In an effort to "close the tap" and drastically reduce the amount of plastic entering the world's oceans, The Ocean Cleanup had devised a barge-like system that was completely solar powered and was aimed to be a scalable solution that could be deployed around the world's rivers. As of mid 2020, Interceptors have been deployed in Indonesia and Malaysia, and are prepared to be deployed in Vietnam and the Dominican Republic." - Wikipedia.
Lucy Hughes is a student from the University Of Sussex who has made a bio-degradable plastic made of fish waste. She was concerned by reading that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish and developed an interest to solve it. She saw that fishing is an industry that generates enormous amounts of waste that has low commercial value, but saw a potential for plastic replacement in it. I suppose you see it, too, when removing the chitin exoskeletons of shrimps or cleaning the scales of the mackerel fish (bangda or surmai). Hence, Lucy went forward to develop a bioplastic called MarinaTex.
She is eliminating plastic waste and seafood waste simultaneously.
"It isn't just the paint that's green: Synthetic gasoline aims to reduce carbon emissions from driving by 85%." - Porsche
Porsche believes that internal combustion engine cars are not going to disappear anytime soon, and that they are much more powerful, possess longer range, and are just more fun. It is in the works to develop a fuel which has an emission as clean as that of an electric vehicle. Electric vehicles are not emission-free. The electricity they run on is generated by power plants that burn fossil fuel. It is a much more complicated and much less efficient than an ICE car.
Porsche has developed an eFuel made from CO2 and hydrogen and processed using renewable energy that is expected to improve CO2 reduction by 85%. This eFuel can be filled into the tank of any ordinary ICE car without any adjustments needed on the ICE.
I really don't want to live in a world in which I can't go to the movies anymore because there's flood on the streets, or not be able to make one myself because the weather outside is always storm and dust, or be unable to form a poem in my thoughts because the heatwaves hurt my head, or not be able to cook good food because it has become too expensive to grow the ingredients. To not protect our Earth and let its atmosphere become hostile will be to cage ourselves in and give up our freedom.
So, greata should find solutions? Now she is responsible not only to point out the importance of protecting the nature and preventing climate change but also to find solutions for the problems that our government can hire experts, find out and solve? Honestly, this is just a weird angle. In order to praise 2 people you felt the need to write an article about why you do not like her? Um... not everyone is a scientist. People do as much as they can do. Personally, I think greta is doing great. I wouldn't even have thought about the climate if it wasn't for greta. I was unaware. Also, if solutions are there then why isn't our government using them and fixing the problem? I guess, that's why greta take direct shots at big politicians.
I appreciate Greta for speaking up against climate change ignorance directly with people of authority on an international platform, but she is still doing the same thing that brought her in the limelight. The least she could do is use this limelight to talk the things people can do, brands people can believe in, companies people can purchase from so it betters the environment. She has long been ranting about climate change and hasn't been promoting those who are combating it. "Government can hire experts, find out, and solve", has that been done yet? No. Then we have to take it upon ourselves to do so. I did not post this to praise two people. When I first thought of it I wasn't even thinking of these two people. My only motive was to talk about Greta. But then it would have been ironic if I only talked about the problem with Greta and not the solution with these two. Not everyone is a scientist, yeah. But Greta is not everyone. She is popular and people listen to her. Her preaching and practices influence people. So, the best she can do with minimum efforts is to educate them on the topics I have already mentioned. If you think Greta is doing great, that's fine. A difference of opinion is always welcome.
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So, greata should find solutions? Now she is responsible not only to point out the importance of protecting the nature and preventing climate change but also to find solutions for the problems that our government can hire experts, find out and solve? Honestly, this is just a weird angle. In order to praise 2 people you felt the need to write an article about why you do not like her? Um... not everyone is a scientist. People do as much as they can do. Personally, I think greta is doing great. I wouldn't even have thought about the climate if it wasn't for greta. I was unaware. Also, if solutions are there then why isn't our government using them and fixing the problem? I guess, that's why greta take direct shots at big politicians.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate Greta for speaking up against climate change ignorance directly with people of authority on an international platform, but she is still doing the same thing that brought her in the limelight. The least she could do is use this limelight to talk the things people can do, brands people can believe in, companies people can purchase from so it betters the environment. She has long been ranting about climate change and hasn't been promoting those who are combating it. "Government can hire experts, find out, and solve", has that been done yet? No. Then we have to take it upon ourselves to do so. I did not post this to praise two people. When I first thought of it I wasn't even thinking of these two people. My only motive was to talk about Greta. But then it would have been ironic if I only talked about the problem with Greta and not the solution with these two. Not everyone is a scientist, yeah. But Greta is not everyone. She is popular and people listen to her. Her preaching and practices influence people. So, the best she can do with minimum efforts is to educate them on the topics I have already mentioned. If you think Greta is doing great, that's fine. A difference of opinion is always welcome.
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