We are facing an emergency resulting from our toxic economic and political system. The way we relate to each other and to nature is destroying Earth’s capacity to sustain life.
Unending economic growth and profits drawn from a planet with limited resources is causing gross inequality, poverty, mass misery, and species extinction.
We are sold an illusion that consumption will bring purpose and happiness into our lives, yet this systemic consumption is threatening our very existence. It is based on unjust and unethical land use and ownership, unsustainable and increasing amounts of debt and enslavement of individuals.
Power and money is concentrated in the hands of the few, while the masses struggle to simply survive. It is causing climate breakdown and biodiversity collapse.
As Greta Thunberg has been saying since the ‘Declaration of Rebellion’ last October 31:
‘We can no longer save the world by playing by the rules. Because the rules have to be changed. Everything needs to change. And it has to start today.”
So, everyone out there, it is now time for civil disobedience. It is time to rebel.
Climate change is not moving as slowly as we’d like to think. In fact, half of all the damage done through burning fossil fuels has been just over the last 30 years. Unfortunately, every year is now more damaging than the last. The good news is that we are not at a point of no return. While we will never have the same climate we had before industrialization, we can make a positive impact on the future of climate change by taking action now.
David Wallace-Wells is the deputy editor of New York magazine and the author of the international bestseller The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming, published in February 2019, which the New York Times called both “brilliant” and “the most terrifying book I have ever read.” While the real truth about climate change can be scary, it’s a more important conversation than ever. Throughout our talk, David shares the history of climate change and the three major issues at hand: speed, scope, and severity.
Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State, Michael Mann, says the Trump administration has done nothing when it comes to acting on Climate Change.
