Pirate's Cove

See, they already had a lifetime of traveling with fossil fuels to their hearts content. All the planes, boats, vehicles. All the benefits of petroleum to make things like shoes, paint, cassettes, solvents, golf bags, perfume, fishing lures and rods, deodorant, denture adhesive, tennis rackets, cortisone, dentures, golf balls, refrigerators, telephones, and so much more. Around 6,000 products. But, now they’re upset

‘We have money and power’: older Americans to blockade banks in climate protest

Climate activists across the US will on Tuesday blockade branches of banks that finance fossil fuels, cutting up their credit cards in protest and holding rallies featuring everything from flash mobs to papier-mache orca whales. Unusually for such a spectacle, the protests won’t be led by young activists but those of a grayer hue.

The protests, across more than 90 locations, including Washington DC, are billed as the first set of mass climate demonstrations by older Americans, who have until now been far less visible than younger activists, such as the school strike movement spearheaded by Greta Thunberg. In a nod to the more seasoned age of participants, older people in painted rocking chairs will block the entrances to some of the US’s largest banks to highlight their funding of oil and gas extraction.

“So far the kids have had to do all of the work and they’ve done an amazing job but it’s not fair to ask 18-year-olds to solve this problem,” said Bill McKibben, the veteran climate campaigner who co-founded the Third Act group last year, which is designated for people aged over 60. The group has gathered momentum, attracting more than 50,000 members and recently holding a test-run protest in New York City, where participants marched under a banner reading “fossils against fossil fuels”.

“Older people have got money and structural power coming out of our ears,” said McKibben, who is 62. “We have to show young people we have their back. I’m going to be dead before the climate crisis is at its absolute worst, but being nearer the exit than the entrance concentrates one’s mind to notions of legacy and we are the first generation to leave the world in a worse place than we found it.

“I understand why people say ‘OK boomer’ – it’s not like we have done an amazing job in protecting the world.”

And how many of those older folks are willing to give up their own use of fossil fuels? No more flights, no more vehicle trips, no more boats and cruises? How many will be traveling to these protests in fossil fueled vehicles?

Oh, and how many of them made a lot of money by having fossil fuels companies and companies that use petroleum in their portfolios? Also, as someone in the comments points out “50k people is insignificant compared to the 100 million or more who prioritize affordable energy, particularly reasonable gas prices.” How do you make those 6,000+ products without petroleum?