Greta Gets Gammons Going

The Guardian’s environment editor Damian Carrington has a reminder for us today: we may be looking at the Coronavirus pandemic, but climate change is still a thing, still real, and has not gone away. Moreover, two years after her first school strike, activist Greta Thunberg is still there too, reminding us that our inaction is not buying time, but losing it.

Evening all

Ms Thunberg has told “Looking back [over two years], a lot has happened. Many millions have taken to the streets … But over these last two years, the world has also emitted over 80bn tonnes of CO2. We have seen continuous natural disasters taking place across the globe. Many lives and livelihoods have been lost, and this is only the very beginning”. The response to her reminder? The usual - blind, incoherent rage from the usual suspects.

This had already seen Sky News Australia (more Fox News than Sky in the UK) claiming “Greta Thunberg 'losing relevance' in the wake of global pandemic”, a mantra which was enthusiastically taken up by the climate change denialists at the Global Warming Policy Foundation and the equally batshit Climate Realists. Now, it’s getting worse.

Like Austin Williams sneering “Just when you thought that the decimation of industry, global recession & mass unemployment were as bad as it gets, along come environmentalists to close even more things down”. And the one-person tide of human filth that is David Vance laughably claiming “She misses the publicity”.

Some are already trying to drive their own denialist publicity, like the “Friends of Science” (they aren’t) pleading that Ms Thunberg debate Naomi Seibt (a denialist). Right on cue comes a Brexiteer to assert “Saint Greta will never agree to a debate”. Brexit and climate change denial do seem to attract a very similar audience.

Elsewhere, the Gammon is outraged. Like Jon Saxon, frothing “This child knows nothing but to trust blindly what she is told. She couldn't reason her way out of a paper bag … She's an ignorant puppet, used by the cult”. Neil Warden is on the same page. “Climate change is another cash cow. Greta Thunberg is a pawn”. Yeah, right.

Another of the whiners believes “The sock puppet's PR team must be SO p1ssed off we've had REAL problems to worry about recently, in place of their illusory ones”. Then has come the reminder to all of them: “It's so depressingly predictable. Greta Thunberg says something about climate change, papers publish it, then grown men tweet abuse about a 17 year old girl who has achieved more in her teens than most of them have managed with their whole lives”. They also demonstrate their crashing ignorance.

REALITY

Greta Thunberg does not do what anyone else tells her to. That dishonest claim may be part of the climate change denial belief system, but has no basis in fact.

Ms Thunberg is right. Being abusive will not stop her being right. Deal with it.

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