What is it about the 16 year old environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg that so frightens so many middle aged white men? After all, this wonderful young woman, who suffers from Asperger’s and OCD, campaigns on what science knows to be true, that our climate is changing and if we do not act soon there will be catastrophic consequences for mankind.
I am sure you have seen some of the media motormouths, whose careers depend on ugly populism, leap on the bandwagon of hate. Piers Morgan, a breakfast TV presenter and Daily Mail columnist, and Jeremy Clarkson, the TV presenter and Sun columnist to name but two and there are plenty more. They taunt, they abuse, they ridicule . Yet why? I heard her described as frightening millions of children all over the world. Frightening? Really? No. She has inspired young people all over the world, young people who are the people who will inherit the scorched earth we will bequeath to them.
It is not as if there is a scientific debate about climate change to be had. No responsible media outlet feels obliged to provide balance. There’s no need. What are the pound shop media polemicists up to?
My guess is that they are trying to keep their lucrative incomes. And in order to boost their bulging bank balances, they are playing the woman and not the ball. They are shooting the messenger, who just happens to be delivering a message that is scientifically correct. If we don’t believe science, what and who do we believe?
The climate change deniers are the likes of Donald Trump who tries to make a virtue out of his ignorance and stupidity. Others deny climate change are often in the pocket of the petro-chemical industries. And some people just don’t care. It’s about the money. The young can pick up the tab which brings us back to Greta Thunberg.
The so-called rebellious newspaper columnists and TV presenters, your Clarksons, your Morgans, your Richard Littlejohns, actually reflect the old guard, the media establishment they pretend they aren’t. And their tinpot war against a 16 year old girl reflects their personal fears, the threat reason brings to their dirty occupations. Young people will not be fooled. Neither will some of us oldies. I leave the final words to Greta as she addresses the rich and powerful:
“You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.”
