I confess that I've been feeling pretty discouraged recently. In response to a comment from the Mound of Sound yesterday, I quoted Mark Twain: "Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And hain't that a big enough majority in any town?" But, Tony Burman writes, young people are no fools:
It is worth noting that many of these young people today who, according to polls, are most worried about climate change are part of the so-called “Generation Z.” They are people under 25, a very large population bloc and growing up as a potentially powerful political voice.
Increasing alarm about the threat of climate change is energizing voters in the U.S. presidential campaign, influencing elections in Canada and Europe, and providing people with alternative political options beyond the traditional parties.
In the United States, the issue now ranks as the most burning issue for many voters. A CNN poll in April among Democrats indicated that climate change outranks health care, immigration and the economy as an issue they regard as “very important” for their party’s presidential nominee to support.
In Europe, the pro-environment Green party has made significant inroads in elections in Germany and the Netherlands and may make a breakthrough in European Union elections later this month. As support for traditional parties collapses, the Green party in many countries is capturing support from many centre-left, progressive voters.
That, undoubtedly, is also the hope of Canada’s Green party as it celebrates its byelection victory last Monday in the British Columbia riding of Nanaimo-Ladysmith. The Green candidate won the seat from the NDP, pushing the Liberals into fourth place.
The ground is shifting, Burman writes, and "a political earthquake may be approaching." That earthquake will be international -- the kind of upheaval we haven't seen since the 1960's:
The accelerating political activism over climate change is beginning to resemble the 1960s when protests about civil rights, education reform and the Vietnam War took hold in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Then, as now, the movement was led by young people who radically challenged the political and media elites.
There are raucous years ahead.
Image: www.campaigncc.org
4 comments:
When I read Burman's column, Owen, I hoped he was right, but I find his outlook Pollyanish. I was thinking the same thing on another piece he wrote recently in which he predicted Trump won't run for re-election. In both pieces the hopes expressed are unlikely to be realized, in my view.
We live in a dark age, Lorne, and skepticism is necessary for survival. However, my experience has been that Tony's judgement is pretty sound. Full disclosure: I went to university with Tony. A little more than fifty years ago, he edited the student newspaper. He was a good student journalist then. And I have relied on him as a source ever since.
And then there was the UN's Antonio Gutteres this morning lamenting how political will on climate change is fast fading.
I can only imagine what it must be like for an 18-year old today looking at how their country is being led with no regard for how they're to survive when they hit 40 or 50. That rises to criminal negligence, Owen.
How far off is the tipping point at which today's 18-25 year olds can leverage control of our political apparatus? How does that compare with the clock that is already running out on their future?
It will be interesting when heads of state gather in New York in September to present "concrete, realistic plans" to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent by 2030. If we're lucky it might afford us an opportunity to expose the bullshitters in their ranks. Will Trudeau use the election campaign as his Get Out of Jail Free card? Will he resort to his standard weasel words and creative accounting?
You'd think that the old saw "Bullshit Baffles Brains" was now a cliche, Mound. The evidence suggests, however, that the phrase accurately describes our situation.
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