Bill McKibben
@billmckibben
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Author, Educator, Environmentalist and founder of https://t.co/RD1mCHAneQ and https://t.co/58WgUpHwRO. Opinions all my own, and expressed at greater length at https://t.co/va0A985uVl
Joined February 2009
I've had a like/hate relationship with Twitter, but it feels as if one of those emotions is growing stronger. So I'm glad that I have a Substack project, free for all to read (and very glad that some people pay the modest, voluntary fee to keep it going).
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A reminder that Jimmy Carter put solar panels on the White House roof. In the 1970s. Only to watch Ronald Reagan take them down.
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Are you kidding me? The #ClimateStrike scene in Freiburg Germany.
Like the sea we rise!.Liebes Klimakabinett, ihr habt euch mit den falschen angelegt. #AlleFuersKlima #FridaysForFuture
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If I were Putin, I'd be a little worried that Trump thinks my invasion plan is "genius.".
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An important moment: Christianity Today, the key evangelical magazine founded by Billy Graham, calls for Trump's impeachment, describing him as "a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.".
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I disagree with Liz Cheney about most things. But she was the 3rd ranking Republican in the House, and she sacrificed her career to take on Trumpism, and I respect that act immensely.
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When the attorney general threatened WaPo owner Katherine Graham that he’d put her ‘tit in a wringer’ if she published Watergate reporting, she didn’t blink.Jeff Bezos, not so much.
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I've never CAPSLOCKED before, but IRELAND JUST VOTED TO BECOME THE FIRST NATION ON EARTH TO FULLY DIVEST FROM FOSSIL FUELS. It's a fine day, begorra!.
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That we continue to cut old growth forests, legally, in 2021 is crazy-making.
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Here's the captain of the Harvard football team saluting the students and alumni who disrupted the year's big game. He's a real leader and he and his teammates deserve everyone's gratitude.
Statement from Wesley Ogsbury, captain of the Harvard Crimson, on today's #NobodyWins disruption by us and @FossilFreeYale:
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Since the oil industry is running out of places to store their unwanted product. perhaps we should just keep it in the ground. Forever.
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An utterly crushing day for Big Oil.1) Chevron investors demand emission cuts.2) Dutch court tells Shell to cut emissions by half.3) Exxon shareholders buck the company and elect directors demanding climate action. Thanks to all who fight--you push long enough and dominoes tumble.
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Joe Biden didn't skip the line to vote today. Instead he waited for 40 minutes. That's a useful message to send
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Manchin has taken more money from the fossil fuel industry than anyone else in DC. And the return on that investment has been enormous. Big Oil got its money worth a thousand times over.
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1) Irma at 190 mph.2) Harvey at 54 " of rain.3) West ablaze.4) Record California heat.5) Donald Trump talking at an oil refinery
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European satellite agency concludes that June was the hottest month ever recorded on earth, our planet.
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Good golly! A few minutes ago a Boston judge acquitted 13 pipeline protesters on the grounds that the climate crisis made it necessary for them to commit civil disobedience. This may be a first in America. Details to follow, and go to @ClimateDisobey for some live video.
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As we helplessly watch Florida suffer today, remember that the the fossil fuel companies knew all about climate change in 1980s. And lied.
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Justice Kagan, in dissent:."The Court appoints itself—instead of Congress or the expert agency—the decisionmaker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening.".
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Um, Fox News says 70% of voters want the government spending more on green energy. I think we might be winning the messaging battle on this one.
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We tell ourselves that if we have money we’d be brave. Jeff Bezos has $204 billion and he’s a coward.
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Probably just ran out of space, but you forgot "break the political power of the fossil fuel industry.".
Scared by that new report on climate change? Here's what you can do to help:. • Eat less meat (about 30%). • Swap your car or plane ride for a bus or train. • Use a smart thermostat in your home, and upgrade to more efficient appliances. More:
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22 hours ago Milton was a tropical storm. Now it's a Cat 5 hurricane. This is what happens on an overheated earth.
Hurricane #Milton Advisory 10A: Milton Explosively Intensifies With 175-Mph Winds. Residents in Florida Are Urged to Follow the Advice of Local Officials.
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My problem with the @nytimes election coverage is not mainly the dopey op-eds. It's that on one substantive story after another--Egyptian payoffs, Arlington cemetery, etc--they've failed to do the serious investigative work they're capable of. Trump effectively gets a pass.
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The temperature in China hit 126 degrees F today (52.2 C.).That beats the old record by an almost inconceivable 3 F. The world is on fire.
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As my wife said at dinner, Trump shot 200,000 people on Fifth Avenue, and now we'll see if he gets away with it.
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This is big news. The world's biggest shipping firm pledges to cut carbon emissions to zero. CEO says "We will have to abandon fossil fuels.".
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Wow. Donald Trump should have scheduled his inauguration for today. There seem to be a lot more people in town
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1) Russia can only afford to fight because of its oil and gas.2) Russia's main weapon against Europe is its threat to cut off oil and gas.3) So it might be wise to stop using oil and gas now that we have workable alternatives.4) (Also saves the planet).
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Joe Manchin preserves Congress's perfect record: no real climate legislation in the 33 years they've been debating the issue.
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Watching the attacks on @GretaThunberg reminds me that industry and conservatives did just the same with Rachel Carson, the great environmental pioneer, in the 1960s. She was called a 'hysterical spinster.' Women have long been leading, and it's never been easy.
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Holy heck. The University of California system has just divested from fossil fuels. That's $80 billion, from what is the biggest and arguably best public system in the world. Thanks to all who have campaigned so long and hard--this is a breathtaking win!
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Someone tell cable news: the sun appears to be providing energy at the same price as last week.
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New study: if we stop emissions immediately, Arctic still warms 5C/9F by century's end. We're not stopping global warming any more; we're fighting like hell for a level that civilizations might survive. #ClimateStrike
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A reminder that the megaheatwave engulfing much of the world is happening during a La Nina "cool cycle." God help us when the next El Nino hits.
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HARVARD JUST DIVESTED FROM FOSSIL FUELS. Because great activists never let up. They don't use the word 'divestment,' but they said they have no direct investments left, will make no new ones, and that their indirect investments are in 'runoff mode' and will be allowed to expire.
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Truly staggering win in New York this a.m.: the state will divest its $226 billion pension fund from fossil fuels. That's the biggest pension fund yet, it comes after a decade of great activism, and it underlines the weakening power of Big Oil.
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This is a graph of total global sea ice. The red line is this year. Something is very very wrong.
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Huge new Finnish study finds planet could run on 100% renewable energy by 2050 and for less money than we pay now. Or, we could burn up the earth.
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Worth remembering that it was @BernieSanders who in 2016 debate was the first legit candidate to say that climate change was the greatest threat facing the world. Props to him for leading, and to others for figuring out he was right. That's how organizing is supposed to work.
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The heaviest rain ever measured in the history of Seoul, pop 25 million. This is what happens when you warm a planet
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If we switched to renewable energy, the number of ships crossing the ocean would fall almost in half. Because they're just carrying coal and oil and gas.
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New York's old rainfall record stood for 150 years until 2021, and has now been broken three times. Hot air holds more water vapor than cold; flooding follows fossil fuel combustion as night follows day.
Major flooding in Brooklyn today. Trains shut down and the only way out of the station is through this.
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These are Australians waiting on the beach to flee into the ocean if the fire keeps coming. It's the only 'safe' place they can find.
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When someone moans about $3.5 trillion spending over 10 years, perhaps remind them that the estimates for the cost of unchecked climate change top out at $551 trillion, which is more money than there is on earth at the moment.
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It's rude to say it at the moment, I guess, but perhaps worth remembering that the North Carolina legislature literally banned using the latest science on sea level rise for coastal planning
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Remarkable new study: Without federal and state subsidies, nearly half of U.S. oil production would be unprofitable.
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A remarkable picture in the Atlantic right now--5 cyclones spinning simultaneously
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Reading the end of the NYT account of why German fatalities are so low is enough to make Americans weep
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At midday today, California got 56.7% of its power from renewables, a new record.
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Prediction: after Helene and Milton, this is going to be in no small part a climate election. #HarrisWalz2024 is not perfect on this issue, but they are a hundred times better than #TrumpVance2024 . Vote for survival, solidarity, and solar.
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Bon voyage @GretaThunberg--what a pleasure it has been to have you on this continent! And what great organizing you've done!.
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The pictures from Colorado tonight are like when the comet hits in #DontLookUp .So look. Long and hard. And then get to work breaking the power of the fossil fuel industry.
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34 years and 40 days ago, Jim Hansen broke the news of global warming to the U.S. Senate. Finally, today, they act. It's late, it's deeply compromised, and it's also a great victory for all who have fought so long and hard. Such thanks to all of you, and on to the next battles.
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For the first time ever recorded, October finds three hurricanes spinning simultaneously in the Atlantic. Hot new world
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Thank you @AOC. This is one of the few vital lessons for everyone to understand--and the hardest for most politicians to take on board.
Fracking is NOT a transitional fuel, and it is dangerous to say so. Fracking emits methane, which is about **84 TIMES** more powerful than CO2 in contributing to climate change for a generation. This is not a joke. We either commit to the science or not.
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The estimate is at least 70,000 on #ClimateStrike in beautiful Cologne, Germany. The numbers around the world are astonishing.
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Look at the massive, gorgeous crowd in Kampala Uganda for #ClimateStrike. The planet's running a fever and the antibodies are kicking in!.
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Next month would be the right month to remember that Rick Scott banned Florida officials from talking about climate change.
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Let's don't bail out cruise ships. They are horrible employers, floating petri dishes, and they wreck local and global environments. It's one business the world will be better off without.
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The earth probably saw its highest temperature ever reliably recorded today: 130F (54.4C) in California. But it's not a record that will last.
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Biggest news of the day: Pittsburgh is going 100% renewable. Pittsburgh, not Paris.
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I'm no lawyer, but here's my take on last 24 hrs.1) Atlantic Coast pipeline: dead.2) DAPL pipeline: in huge trouble, unless Trump's donors can persuade a court to overrule.3) KXL pipeline: blocked for long enough that if Biden wins it's all over.Such deep thanks to all who fight.
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Huge walkout from U.S.-sponsored panel at UN climate talks on the topic of why Coal is Great! Apparently no one left to listen.
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White House can't be bothered rolling out test kits--but if a fracking baron who lost $2 billion yesterday wants a handout, it springs into action.
BREAKING: White House likely to push federal aid for shale companies hit by coronavirus/international energy shock. Trump confidante & oil billionaire Harold Hamm lost $2 billion yesterday. Hamm reached out to admin but says he didnt make “direct" contact.
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Rand Paul going to the gym while waiting to find out his Covid test result is pretty much the working definition of libertarianism. Here's how Ayn Rand put it: "I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man.".
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Yesterday, temporarily, planet Earth took its first step over the 2.0 degrees Celsius barrier.
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One of the biggest days in 30 years of the climate fight: NYC announces it will divest giant pension fund and sue the oil companies for damages. Earth's mightiest city now in full-on fight with its richest, most irresponsible industry.
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It is all but impossible to get pictures out of lower Manhattan this afternoon--the crowd, which we're estimating at 300k minimum, has overwhelmed the cellphone networks. It is big, and it is beautiful #ClimateStrike.
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Trump's gross tax cut gave Patagonia $10 million, so they're passing it on to the various small environmental groups they already support. That's upstanding.
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@ConradEduard Actually they were still working fine in 2007 on the roof of a college in maine.
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I literally wrote a book called "The End of Nature" and I still can't really wrap my head around yesterday's extinction report.
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AS @GretaThunberg gets off her sailboat: "I’m not traveling like this because I want everyone to do so, I’m doing this to send a message that it is impossible to live sustainably today & that needs to change. It needs to become much easier.".@GretaThunberg is good at messaging.
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If you've been keeping your powder dry, waiting for the moment when the climate fight really needed you--right about now would be that moment.
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The longer I think about @DNC insisting no-one hold a climate debate, the sillier it seems. We've literally never talked about this issue in a presidential debate, and we literally have to deal with it immediately. I don't understand why we shouldn't devote a night to it.
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Here's what the fire looks like in Vallejo California right now. The forces we've unleashed are beyond terrifying.
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The truly terrifying news this week is not what happened deep beneath the sea, it's what's going on at the surface
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Almost certainly the largest demonstration our planet has yet seen about climate change. (And on a weekday!) Thank you Canada.
It’s official. 500,000 people came out into the streets of Montreal today to join the Global #ClimateStrike . They’re part of the 6.6 million who took part all over the world. The momentum is on our side and we are not going anywhere. #FridaysForFuture
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Fascinating: Milan will reopen its streets by turning them over to bikes and pedestrians,not cars.Deputy mayor: “Of course, we want to reopen the economy, but we think we should do it on a different basis from before.".
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Huge huge win, in Montana of all places, as a judge rules kids have a right to a safe climate. This state has more coal than any state in the country, and has never denied a fossil fuel permit--but change is coming!.
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If you're keeping track, planet earth had the hottest June ever recorded, the hottest July, the 2nd-hottest August, and now the hottest September. Please join the fight for a livable future.
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Germany generating so much windpower today that price for electricity will fall. below zero. Wish we had wind too
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Basic IPCC formula, in order.1) build massive amounts of (now cheap) sun and wind.2) Electrify everything to run on it.3) Conservation and efficiency.4) Research the hell out of the last hard stuff (planes, cement, etc).5) Stop cutting down trees for cows (or anything else).
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I would say New York definitively showed up to fight fossil fuel. What a day!
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Holy toledo, they're talking about essentially shutting down California's power grid this weekend because of fire risk. Life in the climate crisis feels scary in lots of ways, and this is one.
PG&E now considering a power blackout in all of its California territory this wknd over extreme fire risk — an unprecedented action. "this system will be the strongest of the year and likely will be stronger than the October 2017 northern CA fire event.”
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The @nytimes columnist feebly trying to trash @GretaThunberg sums up his point thusly: "Democracy often calls for waiting and seeing.".We've been waiting for 30 years, and what we've seen are a string of the hottest years in recorded history. So maybe our democracies should. act.
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Shell's CEO chose the hottest day in human history to announce he was reneging on the company's climate pledges. Thanks to the @newyorker for letting me call out this kind of despicable behavior.
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To have beaten back fascism via the ballot box is not nothing.
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This is a mind-boggling story. The fossil fuel industry hired hundreds of actors to pretend they were citizens and testify at pubic hearings against renewable energy. And it worked.
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Amazing action. Harvard Yale Game is literally peak establishment--and they were forced to think about what their investments are doing to the world. Such thanks for this leadership!.
BREAKING: Over 150 Yale + Harvard students, alumni, faculty stormed the field at #HarvardYale to demand DIVESTMENT from fossil fuels & cancel holdings in Puerto Rican debt. When it comes to the status quo, #NobodyWins. @YaleEJC @FossilFreeYale @DivestHarvard
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The new Brazilian president's pledge to wreck the Amazon is a tragic reminder that environmentalists need to win a fight forever, while the other side only needs to win it once.
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Shell CEO on climate change: “Yeah, we knew. Everybody knew. And somehow we all ignored it.”.This is beyond maddening. Not everyone knew, because the oil industry worked for 3 decades to cover it up. Your greed wasted our best chance at survival.
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I truly hope that Michael Moore does not succeed at dividing the climate movement. Too many have fought too long to build it.
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A solar and wind company is now worth more than Exxon, which not long ago was the most profitable corporation on earth.
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The uncanny confluence of Putin's invasion and the IPCC report is a stark reminder: fossil fuel powers the worst crises facing our planet. If we use this moment to get off oil and gas, we have a fighting chance as a planet.
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5.6 million Floridians have been told to evacuate, making it by far the largest mass movement of people in American history. Hot new world.
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As GOP dopes rattle on about how we shouldn't do anything because of China, @GretaThunberg says quietly, 'in Sweden some people say we shouldn't do anything because of the US. Just so you know.'.Audience explodes in joyful laughter.
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When you substitute gas for coal, you reduce carbon and increase methane. You get nowhere. It's literal gaslighting.
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