by Bill Wirtz The most fanatical of activists have an impact on actual policies. That is why they cannot be ignored. Greta Thunberg The 16-year-old Swedish student activist has now been nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her environmentalist activism. Thunberg protests the inability of governments to do more to reduce carbon emissions and has sparked large and regular student protests. “#YouthForClimate” has politicians making new demands: In the European Union, the Netherlands is now making the case for a new €7 ($8) tax on flight segments, a policy proposition currently backed by France, Belgium, and Finland. You’ll notice that the tax is supported by countries in which €7 is still affordable for large parts of the population; in Eastern European countries, however, this will present a significant increase, particularly for low-cost flights. Greta Thunberg is directly attacking the way of life of consumers. “If solutions within this system are so difficult to find then maybe we should change the system itself,” she says. The teenage activist is challenging the culture of availability of consumer goods, as well as capitalism itself. She also says we have to fundamentally change our habits in order to eliminate carbon emissions,…
Read the full story