Happy Birthday, Greta

As Greta Thunberg celebrates her 18th birthday, let’s take a quick look at her detractors as well as her fans.  Right-wing media outlets like Fox News cannot ignore her and the impact she’s made, because it’s too massive.  So, they are forced to disapprove.  But on what grounds?

I asked my Fox-loving mother this question the last time I saw her, and she explained: Fox looks at Greta as a spoiled and petulant little girl who has no expertise in climate science and should simply shut up and go back to high school.

I suppose I should have seen this coming.  When I heard Mom’s response, I could almost hear those words coming out of one of those mean, ill-tempered ladies with the angular faces and long, straight, blonde hair.

It’s almost funny that there has to be a reason that a force, acting for the good of the planet, must be bad or wrong.  It seems that Fox News and the general consensus of America and the rest of the developed world have to disagree about literally everything.  It would seem that droughts, floods, and rising seas would be universally abhorred–but nothing doing.

In any case, and fortunately for us all, the vast majority of denizens of Earth approve of Greta. We applaud her strength and determination, and her commitment to making sure our civilization survives the existential threat it faces with respect to climate change. Obviously she is not a climate scientist.  Neither am I, nor are 99+% of the voices in the world calling for our society to base its policy-making on science rather than corporate propaganda or superstition.

We’re with you, Greta.  Best wishes on your special day.