Greta Thunberg

So Greta Thunberg didn't win the Nobel Prize, at least not this year. I think the person who cares less about it is Greta Thunberg, as if there is anything we can take from her activism is that she doesn't want to be seen as some sort of mascot for climate change.

Thunberg, along with many other activists in their teenage years, is remarkable. Most teenage girls are thinking about boys or clothes, but Thunberg is preternaturally mature and focused. She claims that this is partly due to her Asperger's syndrome, which in many people leads to an obsession with certain topics. Hers just happens to be saving the planet from destruction by humans.

Whether she likes it or not, Thunberg is the face of climate change activism, and it's a good thing. Those who oppose her take the low road with ad hominem attcks, criticizing her looks (Dinesh D'Souza pointed out that Nazis used girls with pigtails to recruit, a stretch beyond the imagination), her Asperger's (one fellow called her "mentally ill"), or going so far as to threaten her (a teacher in Iowa City put on Facebook that he was going to get his "sniper rifle," and she was hung in effigy in Rome). These kind of attacks are because they can't argue with the science. If one doesn't like the message, attack the messenger.

Thunberg is touring North America right now. This terrific photo was snapped of her after her blistering speech at the United Nations, as she gives new meaning to the phrase, "death stare." She seems to be tireless, and when she started she was one person, and now she leads millions. She stood with indigenous Americans at Standing Rock, and hardly ever seems to say the wrong thing, at least where progressives are concerned.

Why are young people leading this fight? Because this affects them the most. Old white men like me will be dead before Florida is completely underwater, or food shortages will create riots, and high temperatures will be even deadlier. I can only be thankful that there are people like her who put the science ahead of Mammon, and gives me hope for the future.