Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? GOP Edition

The Green New Deal is the stuff of dreams -- or daydreams depending on who you ask. Ask Sen. John Thune R- South Dakota and he’ll call it a “socialist fantasy.” Ask 12-year-old Haven Coleman and she’ll tell you climate change is “the largest  threat to [their] lives.”

If you ask me, the latter is leaps and bounds ahead of the individuals supposedly deciding policy.

The Senate voted this past Tuesday on the resolution, which outlines steps the U.S. must take to combat global climate change. Among those opposed to the Green New Deal are Senator Charles E. Grassley, R- Iowa who labeled it a “utopian manifesto,” who dons “family farmer” in his Twitter biography. He hasn’t posted photos of his farm for a year.

Sen. Mitch McConnell scheduled this vote just 10 days after 123 countries participated in marches for climate change. While McConnell said he believes American people should know where their senators stand on the issue, Democrats claim the vote was an attempt to divide the party before the 2020 election.

Members from both parties are taking to Twitter, fighting for and against the proposal. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made a passionate rebuttal after Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy called the Green New Deal “elitist.” Getting swept up in the political heat of this environmental issue can be easy. However, it begs the question: why do children grasp the threat of climate change and environmental abuse better than political leaders?

I believe the answer may lie in generational differences, modern education or the hunger for change being channeled through organizations like the U.S. Youth Climate Strike, which was founded by three teenagers. The three co-founders are 12, 16 and 17 years old. Yeah, be impressed. I am.

Millennials and Generation Z should take pride in their rallying efforts and devotion. As a Millenial myself, I know I do. We’re trying to heal the world, and it seems we’re taking the dangers of climate change to heart.

Since Gen Z is said to feel most of man’s impacts on the environment, they are working towards a green future. They’re the ones who will bear the brunt of climate change, so they feel a deeper urgency to reverse man’s impact on it. The “Masdar Gen Z Global Sustainability Survey” revealed of 5,000 Gen Z-ers across 20 countries, 40 percent listed climate change as their top priority. Additionally, 84 percent of them wanted governments to support alternative energy options.

That’s a lot of youngsters trying to enact change.

We the people demand the longevity and wellness of the planet be preserved and lawmakers call it “socialist.”

Political leaders, particularly the ones towards the right need to take global warming and climate change threats seriously. Scientists are urging them to listen and the federal government released the Fourth National Climate Assessment, a study authored by several federal agencies.

The report, published November 2018 states “Extreme weather and climate-related impacts on one system can result in increased risks or failures in other critical systems, including water resources, food production and distribution, energy and transportation, public health, international trade, and national security.”

So nothing that important, really.

The first line in the “Overview” of the assessment says the earth’s climate is changing faster than ever before “primarily as a result of human activities.” With statements as staggering as these, you would think the president and his cabinet would make climate change one of their top battles to fight. I know that terrifies me enough to think twice about my carbon footprint.

Growing up, I was taught people react differently in situations, but there’s a stark contrast between differently and unreasonably. The White House is reportedly forming an ad hoc committee of federal scientists to reassess the report. That’s right, Trump is making a club of scientists who doubt climate change and deny man’s role in it. A global warming skeptics club.

Meanwhile, on the U.S. Youth Climate strike website, their mission says youth are striking “because the science says we have just a few years to transform our energy system, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and prevent the worst effects of climate change. We are striking because our world leaders have yet to acknowledge, prioritize, or properly address our climate crisis.”

Teenagers are more receptive to the scientific facts being delivered by the country’s top experts than leaders with decades on them. The website demands a Green New Deal, a halt in fossil fuel use, a declaration of climate change as a national emergency, climate change education for grades K-8, preserving public lands and wildlife and clean water supplies.

Sounds pretty elitist to me -- clean water and cleaner energy ? The kids aren’t alright.

To better understand why the GOP can’t wrap their heads around the severity of the situation, I had to look at environmental science on a timeline. I assumed Baby Boomers and Generation X wouldn’t believe in man’s effect on the earth. The skeptics in Washington tend to be older, so I was prepared to see low percentages amongst these groups. I was stunned to see a Pew Research Center study that showed 45 percent of Boomers and 48 percent of Gen. X-ers believe earth is getting warmer due to human activity.

I was puzzled, because it’s easy to blame former generations for increased greenhouse emissions and fossil fuels. But in truth, nearly half of the individuals surveyed are on our side.

I had forgotten about deep pockets and where they lead. I had forgotten about corruption between these harmful industries and politics. From 2017-2018, Republican and Conservative parties received billions of dollars from gas and oil companies. Koch Industries gave over $10.5 million, Marathon Petroleum gave nearly $6 million and Chevron Corp chipped in $4.8 million. While companies pay for these parties and their support, the earth and its people are running out of time.

According to a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we have until 2030 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent. By 2050, we have to reach net zero. The IPCC says we’re already seeing effects of global warming, and the young bodies of today see it.

They see the change in glaciers’ size, in polar bears’ emaciated bodies -- and they are acting. Children are fighting battles grown-ups are elected to fight.

As amazed I am by these kids’ actions, Washington needs open their textbooks and sit down for a lesson.