Boomers: You can still be heroes in the story of climate change

VOX ^ | January 8, 2020 | by Laura McGann

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Boomers: It’s not too late. You can be heroes in the story of climate change.

You might not like to hear it, as many of you have long told pollsters you consider yourselves environmentalists, but collectively you have exacerbated the climate crisis more than any other generation.

Fossil fuels were cheap as you came of age and you burned too much of them. Your lifetime carbon footprint is so high you’re forcing kids born today to emit eight times less than you just to hit a modest goal. And you’ve never taken climate change as seriously as the generations behind you.

Your generation put yourselves before the rest of us.

Over the past 60 years, your generation has become the politically dominant force in the West and the United States, in particular. You’re a large cohort. You vote.

Many of you also had a lot of good luck out of the gate. You entered the strongest labor market on record that provided livable wages even for those who did not attend college (which was a fraction of the price as it is now). You then did well in the housing market, turning cheap houses into lucrative sources of equity.

The climate emergency is getting worse and it’s happening faster than scientists feared. Land and oceans are getting hotter. Seas are rising faster. And we’re seeing a trend in more ferocious storms and wildfires, and devastating droughts and floods.

The problem isn’t that we don’t know what to do. The solutions are clear: We need to burn fewer fossil fuels, restore forests instead of destroying them, eat less meat, and consume less overall.

The problem isn’t that we don’t have people who are calling for change. The problem is political will, which requires political power. Your generation has it.

[Chgogal]

What climate emergency is she talking about? The sun rises, it sets, it rains, it snows! Again, what the heck is she talking about.

The lady must have no problems to worry about what the sun is doing.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

Hey Laura, you environmentalist whacko lying moonbat!

Take off your top!

And make me lunch!

And iron my clothes!

[Haiku Guy]

How sad for this young woman to look at her life and Greta Thunberg and realize that she is already useless and obsolete at the age of 27. You can only do that Youthful Voice of Conscience schtick for so long...

[Haiku Guy]

Photo from the linked article:

Caption: An exhausted CFA crew member lies on the ground after a day of maintaining controlled back burns in St. Albans, Australia, on November 21, 2019.

Just what the world needs... Snowflake Firefighters.

She might have a blister under one of those boots... poor baby.

[hirn_man]

My reply to #OK Boomer is #OK Snotnose.

Because that is what they are, snotnose no-nothings.

And I have a problem with anyone that demands I give up my way of life so they can enjoy their way of life.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

The USA is far cleaner beginning in 1970. Rivers no longer catch on fire, Flushing a toilet does not now go straight into a river. No DDT, Dioxin, PCBs, lead or mercury in everything. No local city dumps where you could dump ANYTHING! Petroleum refineries have cleaned up.
Scrubbers on smokestacks, Less auto exhaust. The USA is so clean today young people are having a hard time finding better windmills to tilt at.