But there is not one climate movement, but several different movements of people who want climate action, and the tensions between them are rising as younger people get more engaged.
(quick thread...)
Largely, this advocacy work has focused on cap-n-trade/CO2 tax policies and support for clean energy.
Cities are the key to climate action, as I've said for 20 years.)
We olds may individually be doing amazing kick-ass work; the interests of the old and the young on the whole are still in obvious and direct conflict on a number of issues.
Every day we delay, climate risks worsen & the costs of inevitable change rise.
If we care about intergenerational justice, moving at the most disruptive speed we can on cutting emissions is a clear ethical imperative.
Delay is, in this sense, predatory.
The reality of American life is not only that younger people are being preyed upon by climate delay, but also that they're largely shut out from building the lives they want.
Because for all our enthusiasm for "green jobs," young people installing solar panels is just the tip of the iceberg, and most of the submerged ice is going to be far more controversial.
It's not. Real climate action is disruptive af.
A giant building boom is what successful climate action looks like. That means jobs. Jobs younger people want and will be better prepared to take up.
The cracks are visible now. Older leaders are just in the habit of ignoring them.
The conflict between old movement interest groups and that new call for action at scale and speed is going to be a—maybe the— major climate story in the coming decade.