“We, the youth of America, are striking because the science says we have just a few years to transform our energy system, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and prevent the worst effects of climate change,” the manifesto of the Youth Climate Strike (one of the event’s sponsors) begins. That sobering sentence is followed by a set of profoundly unserious demands, beginning with 400 words on why this all-consuming threat to the very habitability of the planet is most pronounced for women and minorities.
Strikers assert that “marginalized communities,” including the impoverished, disabled, LGBT and minorities, and the economically displaced should be foremost on the minds of policymakers.
The game is further given up when the strikers endorse progressive reforms that relate to climate change only as a result of a stretch of the imagination. Among them, the creation of state-owned banks, affordable housing, “local living-wage jobs” and “fully paid quality health care” for affected populations.
