Renewable Revolution

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October 16, 2019




It’s been years since anyone could be excused for taking 🦕 Bjorn Lomborg’s “Skeptical Environmentalist” schtick seriously. Time and again he’s proven himself to be a hollow shell of pseudo-intellectual pretense, a good-looking argument that falls apart upon even the most cursory inspection.

His latest op-ed in the NYPost is nothing new. In the piece, Lomborg claims, as is his mantra, that protesters are “focused on all the wrong solutions.”

The thrust of his argument is that individual actions, like not driving, flying, or eating meat, aren’t enough to save the climate.

That’s true. What isn’t true, though, is 😈 Lomborg’s mischaracterization of the protests, which no honest observer could possibly claim is about asking people to make token sacrifices.

That’s probably why Lomborg doesn’tactually quote Greta Thunberg or any of the other protesters, or cite any of their website materials, or otherwise substantiate his strawman claim about them “pursuing the wrong solution to climate change.” In reality, Extinction Rebellion’s three main asks are all aimed at governments. If Lomberg were to watch any of Greta’s speeches, he’d immediately see her ire is pointed at governments for failing to act, not at regular people for failing to sacrifice. 


In fact, even the picture accompanying Lomborg’s op-ed debunks its premise: the only legible sign reads “Congress, Albany, NYC: Why are you complicit in the climate crisis?” Clearly that’s a call for systemic change at the legislative level, and not one of personal sacrifices.

And in looking at page after page of “best signs” picture stories, the only ones having to do with personal action are obviously jokes.

The overarching goal of the ongoing student strikes is to get leaders to take action, because individual sacrifice is in no way enough to solve the problem. And Greta’s whole point in taking a sailboat instead of a plane to travel to the United State was to highlight the lack of sustainable long-distance travel options, and the need for systemic change to create those alternatives.

But Lomborg needs to attack real activists to be even remotely relevant. Pointing out that the protesters are right to call for systemic solutions wouldn’t get him published in the Murdoch press, after all.

Criticizing protesters, though, as he has always done, is a surefire way to get placed in outlets that care less about facts than they do attacks.

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