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The sailing was about more than just saving CO2, it was mainly a symbol (highlighting that air-traffic is not yet climate friendly and that something needs to b

The sailing was about more than just saving CO2, it was mainly a symbol (highlighting that air-traffic is not yet climate friendly and that something needs to be done about it, since feasible alternatives don't exist). I really don't get why people are so annoyed about this.

grecht 7y ago
Well, she didn’t save CO2 in the end. And the world already knows that flying isn’t climate friendly. She demands that people fly less, and people don’t like hypocrisy, so they’re annoyed.
repolfx 7y ago
Because everyone knows already? Nobody asked Thunberg to "symbolically" demand tons of media attention on herself. People are reminded flying burns fuel every time they book a flight and are offered carbon credits, or in school, or whenever they read the newspaper, or really any one of dozens of different ways. Remember - Thunberg has no solutions. Nor do any of the climate activists like her. Planes will not stop flying, power stations will not stop emitting short of a totalitarian government taking over the world and rolling the global economy back a couple hundred years: an act that would involve mass destruction and death on an unimaginable scale. The only people who have solutions are scientists and engineers working on ways to power planes that don't involve burning fossil fuels, or make them more efficient. They won't work any faster because some random teenager sailed on a boat. Nor will people give up their vacations, miss out on an important business deal, or refuse to go see a dying loved one because Thunberg personally demands it. Her refusal to see this is a product of a desire for attention, not a helpful service to humanity. I'll respect this girl when she goes and gets an engineering degree, gets a job at Airbus and works on an electric plane. Then she'll be able to say she really made a difference.
- jacobush 7y ago
  Greta is by now sort of a politician, so let me know if I mistook your position: Remember - politicians have no solutions. Nor do any other politicians around them. Unless they form a totalitarian world government and sends us to the 19th century, which would be double-plus-ungood. The only people who have solutions are scientists and engineers working on ways to power planes that don't involve burning fossil fuels. These planes will magically be ready one day and the oil lobby will stay quiet and everything will be just fine, because science. Amen. Now keep your head down until directed otherwise.
  - repolfx 7y ago
    She's not a politician as she's not standing in an election. If she was people could refuse to vote for her, as they usually do for Green politicians, and maybe that'd give her a reality check. Yes that's my position, if we discard your pointless sarcasm. Obviously planes won't "magically" be ready - that's my entire point. It will take work, lots of work by lots of scientists and engineers. The best way to help them is become one of them. The oil lobby as you put it is really the energy lobby and are one of the biggest investors in green energy. They are staying quiet, it's been a long time since I thought about firms like BP or Shell in relation to climate change. Additionally they have little actual power. They don't even have the power to set prices of their own product. The idea of Big Evil Oil Execs trying to destroy the world is a childish myth. Where is the titanic battle between the oil lobby and Tesla, for example? I don't see any evidence of such a battle. Tesla's big problem is their own spending levels, not being undermined by petrol companies. Finally, yes Greta should keep her head down. Her net contribution so far has been negative. The solutions lie with science but she's been encouraging school children to go on "strike" i.e. refuse to take the maths and science lessons adults are giving them, the very lessons that would teach them how to contribute to the solutions.

grecht 7y ago

Well, she didn’t save CO2 in the end. And the world already knows that flying isn’t climate friendly. She demands that people fly less, and people don’t like hypocrisy, so they’re annoyed.

repolfx 7y ago

Because everyone knows already? Nobody asked Thunberg to "symbolically" demand tons of media attention on herself. People are reminded flying burns fuel every time they book a flight and are offered carbon credits, or in school, or whenever they read the newspaper, or really any one of dozens of different ways. Remember - Thunberg has no solutions. Nor do any of the climate activists like her. Planes will not stop flying, power stations will not stop emitting short of a totalitarian government taking over the world and rolling the global economy back a couple hundred years: an act that would involve mass destruction and death on an unimaginable scale. The only people who have solutions are scientists and engineers working on ways to power planes that don't involve burning fossil fuels, or make them more efficient. They won't work any faster because some random teenager sailed on a boat. Nor will people give up their vacations, miss out on an important business deal, or refuse to go see a dying loved one because Thunberg personally demands it. Her refusal to see this is a product of a desire for attention, not a helpful service to humanity. I'll respect this girl when she goes and gets an engineering degree, gets a job at Airbus and works on an electric plane. Then she'll be able to say she really made a difference.

jacobush 7y ago
Greta is by now sort of a politician, so let me know if I mistook your position: Remember - politicians have no solutions. Nor do any other politicians around them. Unless they form a totalitarian world government and sends us to the 19th century, which would be double-plus-ungood. The only people who have solutions are scientists and engineers working on ways to power planes that don't involve burning fossil fuels. These planes will magically be ready one day and the oil lobby will stay quiet and everything will be just fine, because science. Amen. Now keep your head down until directed otherwise.
- repolfx 7y ago
  She's not a politician as she's not standing in an election. If she was people could refuse to vote for her, as they usually do for Green politicians, and maybe that'd give her a reality check. Yes that's my position, if we discard your pointless sarcasm. Obviously planes won't "magically" be ready - that's my entire point. It will take work, lots of work by lots of scientists and engineers. The best way to help them is become one of them. The oil lobby as you put it is really the energy lobby and are one of the biggest investors in green energy. They are staying quiet, it's been a long time since I thought about firms like BP or Shell in relation to climate change. Additionally they have little actual power. They don't even have the power to set prices of their own product. The idea of Big Evil Oil Execs trying to destroy the world is a childish myth. Where is the titanic battle between the oil lobby and Tesla, for example? I don't see any evidence of such a battle. Tesla's big problem is their own spending levels, not being undermined by petrol companies. Finally, yes Greta should keep her head down. Her net contribution so far has been negative. The solutions lie with science but she's been encouraging school children to go on "strike" i.e. refuse to take the maths and science lessons adults are giving them, the very lessons that would teach them how to contribute to the solutions.