A few days ago, I found myself in a spontaneous debate questioning the validity of the theory of “climate change” in science class. The teacher was going around the room and anyone who wanted to contribute to the conversation could share their stance. I, of course, was the only one not convinced we would all die in 8 years due to the world exploding, or at least the only one voicing that opinion (Cohen). Although I consider myself highly politically informed, I couldn't fully share my ideas, or properly respond to statistics, and false premises on the dot. Only later did I come to realize that I was only thinking in the way everyone else was. Scientifically, which admittedly, is not my forte, although all the people passionate about the issue in class were other teens, who seemed to have practically been regurgitating lines from CNN’s nightly news. Today, I now know I could have taken my argument down a completely different path, which would have made it much stronger. As for my position on the phenomenon as a whole, I acknowledge that the climate changes, as that is its purpose. However, the simple premise of “reduce, reuse, recycle” that we were all taught in elementary school is no longer the message that is pushed. It’s like the environmentalists “safe, legal, and rare” argument, being replaced with a radical agenda to scare kids into thinking they are going to grow up in a dystopia where the air is gray with smoke, and the only cityscapes in sight are silhouettes of nuclear power plants and smokestacks. But why is this? What is the secret end goal of the ruling class? At the end of the day, they are scaring the kids because they want to control the market, make it more “equitable”, and akin to socialism, or communism. And that’s not just me saying that, here are three examples of deep connections between the “environmentalist sector” of the ruling class, and anti-Capitalism.

The Elitists 
It all starts with Klaus Schwab, the head of the World Economic Forum, and his invention of the concept of “stakeholder Capitalism” in which a company ignores the fundamental purpose of capitalism (delivering a profit to shareholders), and focuses more on the environmental, social, and governmental impact of its profits, sales, and manufacturing. Sound familiar? Stakeholder capitalism is basically the means in which a company boosts its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores. Now, I'm not saying that as a company, thinking about the impact you make in terms of those fronts is a bad thing. In fact, it’s one of the many great things about capitalism as an economic system. The consumers have a say in what they buy, so they have a say in what the company they support needs to stop or start doing to improve the world. The problem with Schwab’s way of raising these ESG scores, and the ESG scores themselves for that matter, is that Schwab has repeatedly said that people need to force the market and the companies that run it into drastically changing their goals as a company. Which is why BlackRock has asked its companies it has divested in to pursue more “woke” goals. They claim that even though achieving these goals could hurt the profits being delivered to the shareholders “temporarily”, it will be better for the world in the long run. Another example of the erasure of capitalism in the name of saving the planet, because if we don’t, our children won’t be familiar with what trees are (Williams).  

The Politicians
Bernie Sanders, AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, what do all these politicians have in common? They all have connections with the Democratic Socialists of America. And I don’t mean “Ayanna Pressley’s stepdaughter’s friend’s mother’s cousin does volunteer work for the DSA”. I mean that all the people listed are either members of the DSA, or have had their campaigns directly funded by the DSA. It also happens that they are ardent supporters of the Green New deal. Which is almost by default anyway seeing as the DSA has a page on their website promoting the Green New Deal (“DSA Ecosocialists”). That should be about all the proof you need of connections between anti-Capitalists, But I’d like to focus on one person in particular, seeing as he refuses to give up and retire from his job in the government. On Bernie Sanders’ website, he mentions that one way to combat climate change is to “End the greed of the fossil fuel industry and hold them accountable”(Sanders). Which we all know is just another way of limiting or even stopping Capitalism. If the supposed “greed” of the capitalists running the industries is ended, the fossil fuel we all still rely on in the majority of the time will not be as commonly sourced. This means prices for gas, coal, oil, etc. will inevitably rise, as we are seeing now, giving the government more control over distributing the means by which America lives on and is powered by. And there you have the beginning of socialism. “It’s all a slippery slope” is what I always hear, but it truly is. If the American people keep allowing the ruling class to “test out” new ways to solve the “climate disaster”, their already overarching power will increase, and no, the climate still won't “get better”. By the way, how do you put an end to someone's intrinsic desire?

The Activists
Now for the people who are not in the government, or any international organization, or people who are scientists that have spent years in college just to make themselves more brainwashed. The activists are the people who are either promoting the cause because they have been scared enough by the left that they fully believe in it, who are too close minded to look into the other side’s points, and who get in trouble for stopping traffic coming into oil terminals. And if you take any one of these people, and ask them how they would fix the issue of climate change, they will most certainly talk at least a little bit about limiting the free market, or taking consumers freedom of product choice away from them. Take Leonardo DiCaprio for instance. In 2014, he gave an opening speech to the UN calling for more action on the front of climate, and the first steps he would take if he had the power to. “Now must be our moment for action. We need to put a price tag on carbon emissions and eliminate government subsidies for all oil, coal, and gas companies. We need to end the free ride that industrial polluters have been given in the name of a free market economy”. There it is, almost always in one way or another, climate apologists are always trained on reigning in the broad reach of the free market. It may seem hard to make the connection between these activists and their Socialistic or Anti-Capitalist ideologies, because it makes no sense that they are trying to control us. Saleha Noor’s opinion piece serves as more proof that our activists believe in “canceling” capitalism in the name of “climate justice” . While she understands that abolishing capitalism is unrealistic and will drive society to the ground at a faster rate than how it is happening now, she advocates for more ESG score monitoring and a type of stakeholder capitalism to be implemented.  For the most part, the activists are normal people like us, who live in studio apartments in the Bronx and work as a barista. If they were fighting secretly to control us, then they wouldn't be the ones controlling, but some of the ones being controlled. That's because they've been fooled into thinking one of two things. One: “We need to control you more because if we don't, you'll die because the Earth has gotten so bad”. Or two: “These new measures we want to test out don't give us more control, they were merely created to cut down on fossil fuels and use greener means of living”. This fact just makes it more apparent that most of the people on the side of climate alarmism don't know the truth behind the movement, that the ruling class is just using their passion for advocacy to spread the ideology in which the people hand over their freedom voluntarily on the name of (not at all problematic) climate change. 

Next time you find yourself debating in science class whether or not the Earth is going to explode in 3 years due to the temperatures rising, take a look at someone like Alex Epstein’s work. However, if you want to focus on the effect of the climate alarmist movement as opposed to focusing on the validity of the cause, keep these points in mind. And I encourage you to seriously ask the person you’re debating if they believe that maybe this mass panic the ruling class is trying to impose on everyone goes a bit deeper than just using paper straws, and saving the poor polar bears stranded on tiny glaciers.

Works Cited
Cohen, Li. ““Eight Years Left to Turn the Ship”: Scientists Share How Climate Change Could Change Daily Life.” Www.cbsnews.com, 27 Apr. 2022, www.cbsnews.com/news/how-climate-change-could-change-daily-life/.

Democratic Socialists of America. “DSA Ecosocialists – DSA Ecosocialist Working Group.” Ecosocialists.dsausa.org, 2024, ecosocialists.dsausa.org/. Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.

Noor, Saleha. “Why We Need to Change Capitalism for Climate Action.” Earth.org - Past | Present | Future, 19 Aug. 2020, earth.org/change-capitalism-for-climate-action/. Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.

Sanders, Bernie. “The Green New Deal.” Bernie Sanders - Official Campaign Website, 2017, berniesanders.com/issues/green-new-deal/. Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.

Williams, Richard. “Dear Future Generations: Sorry.” YouTube, 20 Apr. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRLJscAlk1M. Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.