FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 31, 2019, 12:01pm
(January 31, 2019)–
An Open Letter signed by 33 environmental NGOs objecting to biomass burning in Irish peat power stations and calling for those plants’ closure1 has been submitted as part of an objection to ESB’s West Offaly planning application. 2 Dogwood Alliance3 in the USA and Biofuelwatch in the UK and USA4 slam ESB’s application for a post-2020 consent for the power station and its gradual conversion to biomass.
The groups object on the grounds that burning peat in power stations for another seven years and then converting to yet another high-carbon-emitting form of energy is incompatible with Ireland’s Paris Climate Agreement commitments, and puts an undue burden on forests that serve as carbon sinks and habitat for precious biodiversity.
ESB’s claims that they will be increasingly reliant on indigenous biomass flatly contradicts evidence given by Bord na Móna to the Joint Committee on Climate Action last November, the objection letter points out. The evidence by Bord na Móna, who intend to supply the biomass for the West Offaly Power Station if planning consent is granted, makes it clear that they see no prospect of sourcing more than 400,000 tonnes of indigenous biomass without significant further plantings, and that those 400,000 tonnes would go to their Edenderry plant.5 Bord na Móna has acknowledged that attempts to persuade farmers to plant willow had failed, that miscanthus and other grasses cannot be burned because they would corrode the power station boilers, and that tree planting rates across Ireland have been declining. This means that the biomass for West Offaly Power Station will have to be imported. A pellet storage silo is included in ESB’s planning application, yet another confirmation that the company intends to burn wood pellets from overseas.
The southern US is the world’s largest pellet exporter and currently best positioned to meet the demand for burning large-scale biomass at West Offaly.6 Wood pellet production increases pressures on one of the most biodiverse and unique hardwood forest and wetland ecosystems in the world.7 According to a recent report by the IPCC, mitigating climate change requires forests to be protected and allowed to expand, not cutting them down to burn for electricity.
Rita Frost from Dogwood Alliance states: “If Ireland wants to make real emissions cuts, they must heed scientists’ overwhelming conclusion that burning biomass will worsen climate change and increase emissions in the atmosphere for decades. Forests in the southern U.S. have been destroyed in the name of ‘green energy’ for far too long. Local communities facing forest destruction for biomass production will tell you that our forests need to be left standing for carbon sequestration, clean air and water, habitat, and to protect our communities from flooding and storms.”
Almuth Ernsting from Biofuelwatch adds: “The science clearly shows that burning either peat or forest wood is not compatible with the Paris Climate Agreement’s aim to keep warming to within 1.5 degrees. Avoiding the worst impacts of climate change requires a rapid phase-out of high carbon fuels. Both peat and forest wood result in carbon emissions no lower than those from coal.”
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Contacts: Rita Frost, Dogwood Alliance, ++1 – 828-251-2525 ext 26 (USA), [email protected] Almuth Ernsting, Biofuelwatch, ++44-131-6232600 (UK), [email protected]
—————– Notes:
This month, Dogwood Alliance joined Reverend Leo Woodberry and 20 justice leaders and activists from the Justice First Campaign to bring our shared vision of forest protection, clean energy, and climate justice to our nation’s capital.
Last year, many of you joined us along the way when the Justice First Tour traveled to 12 states to build solidarity across the South around climate justice. Dogwood Alliance partnered with Reverend Leo Woodberry of the New Alpha CDC and the Sierra Club Ready for 100 Campaign, along with dozens of local partners, to share our unified call for 100% clean energy for all, forest protection, and a just transition to a new green economy.
As I rode the train from Raleigh to DC and watched the landscape get snowier, I knew the time was ripe for the DC edition of the Justice First Tour.
That’s why we stormed Congress with our calls for leaders to put Justice First. Even when (and especially when) the government is in dysfunction — when disaster relief programs are running out of funds, when immigration courts are closed, when wildfire planning is on hold and remediation of Superfund sites is halted, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 90th birthday reminded us that we need to hold leaders accountable to climate action and environmental justice.
Our first stop was the National Press Club, where Dogwood’s Danna Smith spoke at a press conference hosted by Congressman McEachin (Virginia’s 4th district), alongside our climate champion friends at Hip Hop Caucus, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Sierra Club, Mom’s Clean Air Force, US Climate Action Network and New Alpha CDC.
A powerful lineup for the Justice First Press Conference on January 15th. From left to right: Congressman McEachin (VA-04), Mustafa Santiago Ali of the Hip Hop Caucus, Kerene Tayloe of WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Molly Rauch of Mom’s Clean Air Force, Leslie Fields of Sierra Club, Ife Kilimanjaro of USCAN, Danna Smith of Dogwood Alliance, and Reverend Leo Woodberry of New Alpha CDC.
Danna Smith said,
“We must be united behind a bold vision for solving the climate crisis. A vision that includes not only a transition to 100% clean affordable energy for all but also one where our forests are protected for their climate, wildlife and community benefits. We urge our elected officials to join hundreds of organizations, scientists and policymakers who recognize biomass energy as a false climate solution, and instead embrace forest protection as a climate justice imperative.”
As he often did across the South at Justice First Tour stops, Reverend Woodberry closed out the press conference with a call and response with the audience. The room reverberated with calls for “Justice First!” — which probably doesn’t happen too often at the National Press Club (but it should).
I listened to these leaders’ powerful message as I sat in the audience snapping photos and joining in the calls for Justice First, inspired by the moment we are in.
And even more powerfully, Dogwood Alliance and our partners are demanding action that is just and that centers communities.
There’s no time for false solutions or policies that replicate systems of oppression.
After the press conference and briefings, Danna, Rita, and I made our way Capitol Hill to meet with congressional offices and continue to spread the message of Stand4Forests and the Justice First Campaign.
Dogwood Alliance’s Rita Frost, Danna Smith, and Rachel Weber in front of the Capitol, along with Carina Daniels, Co-Founder of Story & Reach
We put the Stand4Forests platform in the hands of several congressional offices — climate leaders in the South who want to see ambitious climate legislation at the federal level, including the office of my own representative, Congressman David Price.
From long-time congressional leaders like Congressman Price (NC-04) to brand new leaders like Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (VA-10), there was a buzz around climate action in all of the offices we visited. Congressman Don Beyer (VA-08), who has been the top leader in the house when it comes it opposing biomass, is one example: his aide made the point that champions like Beyer’s top issue has been the environment for years, and it’s about time that everyone else is talking about it.
Here’s the point we drove home at each meeting:
Forests and wetlands are an integral part of solving the climate crisis and making our communities more resilient to the effects of climate change we’re already experiencing. As the world’s largest producer and consumer of wood products, the US has the serious opportunity — and responsibility — to protect, restore, and enhance natural forests.
We made this point especially clear at Congresswoman Kathy Castor’s (FL-14) office. If you’ve been following the national headlines on climate lately, you might recognize her name — she’s the Chairwoman of the newly formed Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. We know many partners and grassroots activists will be watching closely what comes out of this committee, and we’ll be joining them in calling for the boldest, most ambitious, and most equitable solutions to the climate emergency we’re in.
Regardless of committee, there’s not one representative in Congress whose constituents aren’t being affected by climate change right now — and that’s why we’re going to continue to lift up the intersection of forests, climate, and justice on the national stage.
With your support, we are making major progress elevating the critical role of US forests in the global effort to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, shore up natural protection for those most directly and profoundly impacted by extreme weather events, and ensure justice and equity in the new green economy.
Whether we’re in the halls of Congress, in statehouses across the South, or at the next public hearing to stop Enviva’s expansion, you can be sure we’re making our message loud and clear. It’s time to Stand4Forests and put Justice First.
The Dogwood Alliance family is mourning the loss of one of our greatest heroes and a champion of Southern forests, Lloyd Clayton, who passed away on January 14th in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.
In 1996, forest protection activists from around the United States converged on the Bankhead National Forest in Alabama to discuss campaigns, issues, and strategies for stopping logging on national forests around the country. The Southern contingent at the event had more than national forests on their mind — 90% of the forests in the region are privately owned and over the previous five or so years there had been an invasion of chip mills springing up around the South that were devastating them.
Local communities and concerned environmentalists were watching an ever-expanding wave of destruction consuming forests in the South. Our forests were being chopped down, chipped up and either sent on barges to Japan or were being consumed at a faster rate by paper mills across the South. Something had to be done and quickly.
From the crowd, a sweet cherub of a man with the most jovial laugh and an undying love for Mother Earth emerged and pledged to fund a new organization to fight forest destruction across the South. That sweet man was Lloyd Clayton, and with his generous support, Danna Smith and Cielo Sand were hired as co-directors of the newly founded Dogwood Alliance.
Lloyd Clayton (left) with Dogwood Alliance board and staff members at the organization’s 15th anniversary party in 2011.
In 2000, when I joined the staff of Dogwood Alliance, Lloyd was one of the first people to greet me. His playful demeanor, deep admiration for people who put their bodies on the line for nature, and willingness to do anything for the people he loves, immediately endeared him to me. Over the last 18 years we have spent many hours together in the Bankhead, our respective hometowns of Asheville and Birmingham, at Heartwood gatherings, and many places in between sharing a laugh or having a deep conversation about the state of the world.
Lloyd was one of my greatest friends, inspirations, and in many ways my muse. He reminded me to laugh at the bastards trying to hold me down, to fight like hell for the people and planet I love, and could always find a way to break tension or confusion with a mesmerizing story. I have so many special memories with Lloyd. Here are but a few.
After September 11th, funding for non-profit environmental organizations crashed dramatically, and many people had to leave the movement to be able to pay the bills. I made it my mission to go out and visit as many of the groups, activists, and communities in our network over a year to listen and see how we could support their work, putting more than 20,000 miles on my car. There were a lot of gloomy stories at that time, and I had hit rock bottom, really questioning whether any of us could make a difference. I was down in Gainesville, Florida on the tour and got a call from Lloyd. He instantly heard the sadness in my voice and invited me to meet him in Destin, Florida.
Lloyd made me feel like the center of the world – sharing meals, stories, and quiet time until it was clear my morass had passed. I am quite sure that if Lloyd had not done that, I would not still be here at Dogwood Alliance writing this today. Over the years, Lloyd had a knack for timing, knowing just when to pop back into my life. In conversations with many of Lloyd’s friends through the years, most shared the same insight.
Lloyd and friends at a wedding on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee.
A few years back Lloyd had a stroke. Doctors did not give him much chance for a full recovery. This could have easily been a moment where he could have given up. But Lloyd, who some of us nicknamed Lloyd the Cat, took it all in stride. Despite the weakness in his body, he slowly but surely pushed on, showing up at Heartwood gatherings, popping up randomly in Asheville for a visit, or venturing far afield to places like Cuba.
A couple years back, after several conversations, Lloyd and I decided to meet at his special spot in Alabama for a week-long retreat together. He was still struggling to walk, but we knew that if we went slow and steady and took lots of breaks to enjoy the majesty of the forest, we could visit some of his favorite places together. Arm in arm we made our way through his special paradise – hugging trees, listening to the babbling brook, and enjoying each others company. I can say in all honesty, that it was one of the most special weeks of my life.
I am mourning the loss of my sweet friend, but he will always serve as a beacon of hope, an inspiration to keep fighting the good fight, and bring a smile to my face and a big ole laugh to my belly.
Rest in Peace Lloyd Clayton! The forests, rivers, and mountains of the Southern US will sing your name, mourn your passing, and be better off thanks to all you have done in their service.
Lloyd Clayton at his special spot in Alabama.
The climate crisis demands that we act now. False solutions, like biomass energy, continue to expand. They target forests: our best defense against climate change, pollute our communities, and leave degraded forests that make people more vulnerable to floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. False solutions like the wood pellet industry aren’t clean or green and aren’t the energy future we need.
“The reality we now face implores us to act.” – Al Gore, Founder & Chairman, The Climate Reality Project
We’re not just fighting for a clean energy future, we’re fighting for a fair energy future. That’s why Dogwood Alliance is joining the Climate Reality Project and Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival at the Climate Reality Leadership Corps activist training in Atlanta, Georgia this March. Former Vice President and climate visionary Al Gore along with an all-star lineup of environmental justice leaders, faith voices, business innovators, and other experts will lead trainings and workshops to build a network of climate leaders capable of pushing back on false solutions and building the clean and fair energy future we need. Dogwood Alliance is honored to be a partner on this important training.
This will be a powerful opportunity to focus on connecting climate advocacy to social justice and on the important role the Southeastern United States plays in addressing the climate crisis. The training will connect environmental justice and climate justice and will center frontline communities, low-income communities, and communities of color. In addition to other topics, we’ll also explore biomass as a false solution to climate change.
Limited scholarship funds are available to assist with transportation and/or housing for people in need of financial assistance. If you’d like more information, please email me directly.
Keeping our forests standing, natural, diverse, and healthy is a critical defense against climate change. To push back on threats like biomass and to build solutions that will solve the climate crisis, all of us need to act together.
Faith and Forests is a special monthly series by Joseph Frankovic. In the series, Joseph will explore how his deep connection to spirituality and faith intersects with our forests and the work of Dogwood Alliance. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not imply endorsement by Dogwood Alliance.This blog installment is dedicated to straight talkers—to the youth and to Aspies of all ages.
Last month, we celebrated Jane Goodall’s book Reason for Hope.1 Much of Goodall’s optimism centers on a specific demographic, namely young people. To them, she attributes boundless energy and enthusiasm, as well as the release of a powerful force when they resolve to effect change.2 We also met Michel de Montaigne, who lived in France during the 16th century. He affirmed young people, in a roundabout way, by rejecting the assumption that age and wisdom correlate directly and proportionally.3
With each passing year, my skepticism about the age-wisdom correlation grows. I have cited below evidence that nourishes that spreading skepticism, using the recent remarks of a former world leader who spoke of hope and change. Before discussing his remarks, allow me to say more in favor of the youth.
In the Synoptic Tradition, each of the Gospel writers—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—repeated a story about Jesus and children. Parents were bringing their children to Jesus, whom they considered to be a saintly man, so that he could touch them. On one occasion, for an unknown reason, Jesus’s disciples discouraged this activity. Objecting to their interference, Jesus transformed an awkward moment into a teaching opportunity:
ἄφετε τὰ παιδία ἔρχεσθαι πρός με καὶ μὴ κωλύετε αὐτά, τῶν γὰρ τοιούτων ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ. ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅς ἂν μὴ δέξηται τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς παιδίον, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς αὐτήν. Allow the children to come to me and do not hinder them because from such as these, the kingdom of God is [constituted]. Amen—I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.4
Jesus blessing little children
Children inherently possesses a character trait that Jesus regarded as indispensable for entering his movement. Former Professor David Flusser of the Hebrew University explained Jesus’s sublime remark to mean, “one has to accept the kingdom of God [i.e., of heaven] simply and without mental reservation.”5 In previous blog posts, we met Brother Bill of Chicago, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Mother Antonia of Tijuana, each of whom had this childlike quality of accepting a big, comprehensive truth without requiring qualification or seeking a limiting condition.6
Before the time of Jesus, at various moments in Judaism’s long history, shifts occurred in perception regarding how God communicated the unknown to the Jewish people. A common new way involved the Bath Kol (i.e., בת קול)—literally, the daughter voice. Professor Saul Lieberman, who taught Talmud and Rabbinics for many years at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, gave a fuller definition of the term. “Bath Kol very often means simply vox,verbum, a voice or a word heard without seeing the person who uttered it, or a word heard from a person who was not conscious of the import of his [or her] saying.”7 This definition can accommodate a range of variables regarding experiencing the daughter voice. The rabbis associated the Bath Kol with the activity of the Holy Spirit. When hearing a child’s voice, particularly when Scripture was being read or recited, the rabbis viewed this moment as favorable for experiencing the daughter voice. The rabbis also emphasized that when the daughter voice disclosed the unknown to a Jewish auditor or audience, she communicated in plain language that contained no ambiguities. Straight talk—this distinguished the Bath Kol, for example, from the utterances of Apollo and Dionysus when one or the other god spoke through the Pythia at Delphi, the ancient religious sanctuary on the slopes of Mount Parnassus.8
In one paragraph, I will assemble a distinctive set of assets that young people, including schoolchildren, bring to the contemporary struggle for inclusive justice and their right to defend the biosphere for posterity. From Goodall, we learnt that energy, enthusiasm, and commitment define young people. They release a powerful force when they commit to making change happen. Jesus attributed to children the ability to accept a comprehensive, existential truth simply and at its face value. People who need ifs and buts clarified do not enter the kingdom of heaven. The rabbis also had a few relevant details to add. First, they portrayed the daughter voice as straight talk from heaven. Secondly, they associated the daughter voice with the speech of schoolchildren, usually when they were vocalizing Scripture. Thirdly, these children were unaware when their utterances were part of the Bath Kol.
Eligible for characterization by these youthful qualifications is Greta Thunberg, the 15-year-old daughter of Swedish actor Svante Thunberg and Swedish opera singer Malena Ernman. A student and young climate activist, Thunberg brings another asset to the struggle: She benefits from Asperger’s Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).9 In short, Thunberg inhabits a conceptual world that is mostly dichromatic—black and white with few shades of grey intervening. When the distance between reality and the narrative, between actions and the explanations for them, becomes too far-fetched, a person with Asperger’s Syndrome is likely to protest against the distortion, irrespective of the social context and cost. Think of the child character who exposed the weavers’ fabrication in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Emperor’s New Clothes.10 Furthermore, the two hemispheres of the Aspie brain typically clamp down on a narrow bundle of interconnected issues, interests, and subjects with the tenacity of a pit bull terrier. Thunberg’s targets are climate justice and biosphere protection. Her mind has a firm grip on the need for action to deaccelerate climate change. She recommends pulling the emergency brake, now.11
Greta Thunberg in 2018
Near the beginning of this post, I briefly mentioned a former world leader who held high the banner of hope and change while on the campaign trail. I am referring to former President Barak Obama. On November 27, 2018, President Obama participated in a conversation with former Secretary of State James A. Baker III at the Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston, Texas. Presidential historian Jon Meacham moderated the event, an anniversary gala to raise money for Secretary Baker’s public policy think tank. The President delivered the desired results: Over 1,000 guests attended and 5.4 million dollars were raised.12 Fifteen days later and over 5,600 miles away in Katowice, Poland, Thunberg addressed world leaders in a plenary session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, otherwise known as COP24–Katowice.13
Although President Obama and Ms. Thunberg’s speaking events were separated by time and geography, I will arrange another gala and replace Secretary Baker with Ms. Thunberg. I also will dismiss moderator Meacham and replace him with me, an adult who was diagnosed with ASD by a medical professional. Ms. Thunberg and I have something in common, so the reader can expect the wind to be at her back throughout this imaginary event. I did not ghostwrite the sentences for either participant, but I did create the context in which they are now presented.
Moderator: Mr. President, thank you for joining us. We are honored by your participation. President Obama: It’s good to be back. Moderator: Is there a particular achievement of your administration that you feel has been undervalued, perhaps even overlooked? President Obama: Sometimes [I] go to Wall Street and folks [are] grumbling about anti-business. And I said, “Have you checked where your stocks were when I came into office and where they are now? What are you talking about? What are you complaining about? Just say, thank you.” Moderator: Disappointing and frustrating—you helped those folks earn good money and were not properly acknowledged for the role that you played. Ms. Thunberg, is there something you would like to say. Ms. Thunberg: Our civilization is being sacrificed for the opportunity of a very small number of people to continue making enormous amounts of money. Our biosphere is being sacrificed so that rich people in countries like mine can live in luxury. It is the sufferings of the many which pay for the luxuries of the few. Moderator: Yes, corporate magnates and politicians sacrificing life to enlarge private fortunes—that is a theme known to us from the past. During the Great Depression, Brigadier General Smedley Butler wrote War Is A Racket. An excellent antiwar booklet by our Nation’s most decorated general, I recommend it. He spoke about war—who benefits and who pays. He basically said that war is conducted at the expense of the very many, for the benefit of a few people who make huge fortunes from it.14 Ms. Thunberg: Change is coming. The real power belongs to the people. Moderator: Mr. President, you earned Ivy League degrees, taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago, served terms in the U.S. Senate, obviously, you were well-informed before entering the Oval Office. Once you were there, you had expanded access to scientific data and analyses from experts working in Government, at agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Forest Service, and so on. Based on your assessment of the information that you had available, tell us something about your domestic energy policy. President Obama: American energy production—you would not always know it, but it went up every year I was President. And that whole suddenly, America is like the biggest oil producer and the biggest gas producer, that was me people. Moderator: Change you are proud of—helping America become the biggest producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons in the world. Some may bristle at your personal satisfaction with such an achievement because more production means graver environmental consequences. Ms. Thunberg, do you approve of this approach to energy production? Please, address your response to the President. Ms. Thunberg: You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes. We need to keep the fossil fuels in the ground. Until you start focusing on what needs to be done rather than what is politically possible, there is no hope. Moderator: Mr. President, you campaigned on the promises of hope and change. Yet Ms. Thunberg is characterizing your domestic energy policy as depressing for young people. Certain things that you say, the underlying rationale eludes me. Is there a particular ideological system that you embrace, a school of thought with which you identify? President Obama: [The Washington] consensus, of which I consider myself to be a part of and still believe in. Moderator: Ms. Thunberg, give us a final comment and, again, please speak directly to our special guest. Ms. Thunberg: You only talk about moving forward with the same bad ideas that got us into this mess. If solutions within this system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system itself. Moderator: I see, the Washington consensus seems adept at keeping failed ideas on life support when they should have died in hospice long ago. [—Applause—]15
In the real conversation with Secretary Baker, President Obama exposed himself as a deadwood leadership booster. With the wealth gap so wide, and growing steadily, only a sympathizer would relish helping Wall Street folks increase the value of their portfolios.16 Being the father of two young adults, Malia and Sasha, he even took pride in making America the world’s biggest producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons.17 How will he explain that achievement to his grandchildren? Montaigne shared an insight long ago that may shed light on the former President’s economic and energy policies: “In old age our souls are subject to more troublesome ailments and imperfections than in our youth.”18
Obama family portrait from 2011
The Swedish daughter’s voice sounded altogether different from that of the presidential father. Her intellectual and moral launch pad stands on the simple acceptance of a new reality. Without mental reservation—with neither a nuanced qualification nor a neat limiting condition—she accepts that we live in a time of existential crisis on a planetary scale. At COP24–Katowice, Thunberg spoke truth to power, describing world leaders as so immature and insecure that they have foisted the responsibility of educating people about climate justice and Earth’s biosphere on children. She also implied that our leaders are unfit to lead: They repeat bad ideas that contributed to the crisis and continue pointing to them as the way forward. These leaders act for the sake of political expediency, ignoring the warnings from scientists.
She also spoke about mankind’s most adored idol: mammon. Acting like an iconoclast, Thunberg hammered neoliberal mammonism for undermining civilization and ruining the biosphere. For what purpose? To give a very small group of elites the privilege of making obscene sums of money; to ensure that rich citizens in affluent Western countries enjoy pampered lives. This arrangement, in which the many pay while the few play, contrasts violently with Jesus’s proclamation of the kingdom of heaven.19 The evangelists of neoliberal capitalism—which include the Washington consensus, an identifier President Obama used—preach a sweet-sounding, but divisive gospel.
The defiant part of her statement came toward the end when Thunberg raised the possibility of replacing the current system. I heard a revolutionary refrain in that option. Then, she added that the youth did not come to COP24—Katowice to beg world leaders to care. On the contrary, the youth did not attend to extend an olive branch, but to deliver their declaration of independence: “You have ignored us in the past, and you will ignore us again.” These world-class ignorers will reap the consequence of their inaction: change. Irrespective of their preferences and timetables, Thunberg informed world leaders that change is headed their way. Moreover, they are powerless to alter what is in motion because “the real power belongs to the people.” Whether or not the Swedish daughter spoke presciently, we will know before the end of the next decade. And at that time, we can listen, again, to Thunberg’s COP24—Katowice statement and recognize whose voice we heard.
Youth supporting forest protection at an Our Forests Aren’t Fuel rally in Charlotte, North Carolina
Endnotes
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