#benji backer

Ella Nilsen at Vox: 

At the end of a two-day visit to Capitol Hill, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, 16, had a directive for members of Congress: “Wake up.”

“This is not the time and place for dreams, this is the time to wake up. This is the moment in history we need to be wide awake,” Thunberg said in a speech Wednesday night before members of Congress in the House Ways and Means Committee. “This is the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced, you cannot solve a crisis without treating it as one. Stop telling people that everything will be fine. As it looks now, everything won’t be fine.”

The stern words reflected Thunberg’s sense, after several meetings with politicians, that too much apathy still pervades US climate politics. “If it continues like that we’re not going to get anywhere, actually transform words into action — the action we need now,” she said.

On her first trip to Washington as the most high-profile climate activist in history, Thunberg saw firsthand a divided government, where Republicans, who have shown little appetite for climate action, control the White House and Senate, and Democrats control the House.

Across the Atlantic, the diminutive but powerful teenager has used her skills of shaming adults to secure commitments from leaders in Britain, Germany, and the EU to accelerate efforts to decarbonize their countries. As part of her efforts to do the same in the US, she and other youth activists from groups including Zero Hour and the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Wednesday and presented a set of demands, including a call to support a Green New Deal. Youth climate activists also met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

“[Pelosi] was really very, very supportive of what we were asking her to do,” Zero Hour activist Anaiah Thomas. “Sometimes you feel like when you’re talking to politicians you feel like they don’t hear you, but the Speaker listened to us, she gave us time to respond.”

A Pelosi spokesman told Vox the speaker’s meeting with activists was lengthy and ran over the allotted time, as she wanted to hear from each of the 25 or so activists there.

“She is in general agreement with their principles,” the spokesman said. The spokesman added that while she does not support the Green New Deal, Pelosi considers it an important organizing tool for youth.

While Thunberg met with former President Barack Obama, she did not meet with President Donald Trump, who is a climate denier, or other Republican leaders. Instead, Thunberg and others protested outside the White House.

While her pressure in Washington may not yield immediate policy results as it has in Europe, her visit is still critical. It’s demonstrating the power of the massive social movement on climate she’s helped build — a movement that’s likely to grow stronger with time.

Can Thunberg spur American politicians to action?

Climate experts told Vox the effectiveness of Greta and US-based activist groups like the Sunrise Movement hasn’t been a magical power to convince politicians to suddenly treat climate change as an emergency; it’s been shifting the entire conversation so Democrats and Republicans alike have to contend with the strength of youth activists.

“I think that both in Europe and here in the US, figures like Greta or really any major figures in the environmental movement have not been effective yet at converting people outright, but they’ve been very effective at social movement pressure,” said Matto Mildenberger, assistant professor of environmental science at the University of California Santa Barbara.

Mildenberger told Vox he was skeptical Thunberg’s visit to Capitol Hill would win over congressional Republicans who deny climate change is a crisis. But he said it would help increase climate change’s profile within the Democratic Party, which could increase pressure on Republicans as well.

That dynamic was apparent during a Thursday morning congressional hearing featuring Thunberg as well as Benji Backer, the founder of the American Conservation Coalition — a group for young conservatives concerned about climate change.

The Millennials Episode II – Friddle, Benji, and Benjamin

  It’s a new show for a not-so-new generation!  The Millennials Episode II takes off tonight with young voices talking culture, politics, and changing the world.  We aren’t the future of the country.  We are the country.  And we’re here to talk about real hope.  Real change.  Right now.

Hosts for this week’s show include The Friddle Show’s Krystal Heath, The Blaze’sCampus Contributor Benji…