A Lesson for Climate Change Activists

Here is a heartwarming story for today. It comes to us from St. John’s College in Oxford University.

The Wall Street Journal editorializes about a recent protest held by environmental activists in the College quadrangle. They demanded that the College divest itself of its holdings in fossil fuel companies, like Shell and BP. Otherwise, they would continue their occupation.

These Greta Thunberg clones were filled with righteous fury. They were not going to back down.

But then, college bursar, Andrew Parker threw down his own gauntlet. He said:

I am not able to arrange any divestment at short notice…. But I can arrange for the gas central heating in college to be switched off with immediate effect. Please let me know if you support this proposal.

The students found the proposal provocative and borderline dangerous. After all, cutting off heat in mid-winter would be a health hazard.

Parker responded:

You are right that I am being provocative but I am provoking some clear thinking, I hope. It is all too easy to request others to do things that carry no personal cost to yourself. The question is whether you and others are prepared to make personal sacrifices to achieve the goals of environmental improvement (which I support as a goal).

The truth is, there is no way that renewable energy supplies would ever be able to replace the energy we receive from fossil fuels. Cutting back drastically would cause massive numbers of people to die. Climate change leftists and other assorted tree-huggers, beginning with Mayor Mike, ought to put that one in their hookahs and puff on it.