The zeal with which many are running toward the religion of climate change is reminiscent of many cult movements I have seen in my lifetime. Our Zoomer Generation (Gen Z) lacks any historical perspective on such movements and has been sucked into this crusade like others in our history. A lesson learned is that there are many catalytic causes and people are always willing to line up and follow a demagogue, such as Greta Thunberg.
The Zoomer Generation Dilemma
One of the immoral things we are doing to our children and grandchildren is overhyping the change in our weather and the global obsession with climate change. Children and adults are often incapable of understanding and dealing with complex scientific news. The constant wrangling and vitriol surrounding this issue must be toned down for all our sakes.
“If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.”
This has gone so far that many Gen Z kids believe the world will end in just a few short years. Children and young adults cannot grasp the realities of government grants, profit motives behind the hype, vote-getting schemes, and just plain power plays by academicians, universities, and research scientists. They need to be shielded from this nonsense, and our next generation should not be brainwashed to a degree that they fear for their lives.
If all this sounds farfetched, on May 15, 2023, it was announced that a new “Climate Anxiety Hotline” number was added to the Climate Change Clocks.
Climate Progenitor
Much of the nonsense about climate that is becoming ingrained in our worldwide culture originates with Greta Thunberg. Malicious adults manipulate her, or she is the progenitor of much of her rhetoric. At her age, she lacks any deep understanding of science, business, or government. The movement was given a voice when she spoke to the United Nations and got a rousing ovation. The UN does not have a stellar track record on anything but corruption. With that very public speech, she became the de-facto, if not absolute, high priestess of climate change.
“Yes, we are failing, but there is still time to turn everything around — we can still fix this. I want you to act as if the house was on fire. Because it is.”
The climate movement has now designated Greta’s United Nations speech “the climate change movement’s Gettysburg Address.” The climate clock discussed below was her brainchild, specifically made to spice up her UN address.
We now have people blocking roadways, intruding on sporting events, gluing themselves to walls and floors, and attempting to destroy valuable works of art, all in the name of climate change. Experience tells me that when you have no rational argument, you do irrational things and yell louder and louder until you get your way or get ignored.
The Cult of Climate Change
The climate change cult almost parallels others like the People’s Temple, the Branch Davidians, or Heaven’s Gate. Fortunately, the cult of climate change has not taken on views this extreme, but there are organizational and visionary parallels. The Climate Cult has a distinct 1960s vibe, and since the Gen Z crowd are the grandchildren of the 1960s failures, perhaps this is their last hurrah lived through their grandchildren.
One big difference is that the Climate Cult has a Marxist twist that intentionally pits the haves against the have-nots. Karl Marx would be proud of their adherence to his philosophy and vision. This has become so extreme that the “haves” can be defined as people who eat meat, drive cars, are farmers, and have gas stoves or dark-colored roofs. There is also a racial twist, where European descendants are universally viewed as oppressors and the rest of the world as the oppressed.
This segregation seems to be a strange position since the protestors are almost universally white and appear to be of European origin. We are talking about children caught up in a cult, not a rational school of thought. Another strange twist is that the rules for the rest of us do not seem to apply to the climate elite. The climate cult needs the money of the ultra-wealthy, so their climate transgressions do not count. They also appear to give a pass to popular entertainers, Russia, and China, two of the most significant “climate transgressors.” Nothing illustrates this better than John Kerry and Taylor Swift purporting to buy the mystical “carbon offsets” to justify their private jets.
Countdown to Armageddon
The end-times projections parallel the climate movement and earlier cult movements. These are always unprovable apocalyptic events with poorly defined, unachievable plans and goals. Depending on your perspective, one of Greta’s most outstanding achievements or best stunts was installing large doomsday climate clocks in prominent cities worldwide. The Gen Z crowd has not given much deep thought to these, and some assume the countdown is to the end of the world as we know it. But the climate doomsday clocks attempt to approximate something entirely different. These electronic doom purveyors are counting down to the date we must get to net zero or, at some undetermined point in the future, there will be no return to everyday life.
“The clock will continue to run down until it hits zero, at which time our carbon budget would be depleted, and the likelihood of devastating global climate impacts would be very high.”
You will notice the phrase “likelihood of global climate impacts.” In other words, there is no clearly defined time when the world might end. And the calculation is based on an adjustable “carbon budget.” According to the group doing the forecasting:
“Nevertheless, this does not mean that the earth would necessarily be 1.5⁰C warmer at the very point in time when the remaining carbon budget for staying below the 1.5⁰C threshold was used up.”
The date is little more than a dart thrown at a calendar. It is based on numbers that may or may not be accurate, allowing for plausible deniability if the world does not end. As of today, the clock is set to July 22, 2029. You might want to mark it on your calendar. Scientific sources point out dates as far as thirty-five years to reach the same statistics. But those dates are too far removed to create a crisis.
The crisis temperature has been lowered from 2 degrees centigrade to 1.5 degrees since that creates a shorter window. At one time, the 2-degree clock would have had the “drop dead date” of August 2, 2052, but you cannot create a crisis today for an unpredictable date that far out. So, they focused on the 1.5-degree change and recalculated their carbon budget much lower to fit their needs. Put all of this together, and the crisis date will be shortened by 22 years.
"In the fight between you and the world, back the world."
The Danger of Persistent Myths
In all the mayhem, we now have climate psychologists, climate help groups and support groups, climate speakers, climate conferences, climate hotlines for anxiety, climate blogs, and a host of other strange things. Before our very eyes, the climate Marxists have become climate capitalists.
Many, if not most, websites you search for about climate change come back with a “.org” suffix on the address. This, of course, means that the climate activists are not above using our tax code to support their cause. With this structure, they can apply for tax-free dollars from the government and foundations. The activists can also coerce corporations to donate to their causes. The “.org” suffix also gives them an air of legitimacy since the IRS has reviewed their goals and purpose before issuing them a non-profit status. In our current woke environment, not even the IRS is immune to the word “climate” on an application.
A “climate change” search on Google returns just over 2 billion results. Sadly, for the activists, the cult of climate change has become big government, big business, and not much more. Unfortunately for the true believers in the myth, their movement has been hijacked by those with other intentions.
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.”
By July 22, 2029, the Climate Clock prediction of the end of the world will expire, and perhaps by then, enough Gen Z kids will grow up, have families and jobs, clear their minds, and put this cult behind them.
Other articles of interest on Climate Change:
Willie, Al, Greta, and the Butterfly
Resources
19 YOUTH CLIMATE ACTIVISTS YOU SHOULD BE FOLLOWING ON SOCIAL MEDIAI,
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Can 3.5 Percent Save the Planet?, by Yasmeen Serhan, The Atlantic, theatlantic.com, November 8, 2021,.
Climate Anxiety Hotline added to Climate Clocks Worldwide for Mental Health Awareness Week, by Katie Hill, My Green Podcast, mygreenpod.com, May 15, 2023.
Climate clock reset shows the world is one year closer to 1.5 C warming threshold, by ADAURIS, The Conversation, theconversation.com, November 4, 2021
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The Climate Clock: Counting down to 1.5°C, by David Usher, theconversation.com, December 5, 2018.
The world just made it clear the fossil fuel era is ending — with some wiggle room, by Chico Harlan, Maxine Joselow, and Timothy Puko, The Washington Post, washingtonpost.com, December 13, 2023.
This climate clock is counting down to doomsday – but now it ticks with with a hint of optimism, by Samuel Osborne, Independent, independent.co.uk, May 28, 2021.
Time is running out on the Climate Clock, by Justine Calma, The Verge, theverge.com, July 22, 2023.
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What is a mass extinction, and why do scientists think we’re in the middle of one?, by Katie Hunt, CNN, edition.cnn.com, December 23, 2024.
Young climate activists demand action and inspire hope, UNICEF, unicef.org, Undated.
Young Women Are Leading Climate Protests. Guess Who Runs Global Talks?, by Somini Sengupta, The New York Times, nytimes.com, November 8, 2021.
