The hype around her is amazing; but this is purely the politicians fault, who are just not taking climate change serious enough. If the politicians would have done that, she would be still an anonymous nobody school girl.
I'm not a good judge of her impact here because I'm so laser-focused on climate change news anyway. Greta's efforts are really admirable, so I'm definitely in the "like her" camp; her candor is very refreshing. She's also helped focus a lot free-floating anxiety that is now coming together in the form of marches, which to my mind are -- at least so far -- just feel-good expressions of concern. They're not high pressure on politicians yet, certainly not enough to counter the influence of big business, especially the coal & oil/gas industries.
Democracies are not a vehicle for quick, radical change. By their nature, by their intent, democracies introduce change slowly and by consensus -- even when they're not owned lock, stock & barrel by special interests. There was a perfect example of this last week in an interview with Cory Booker at some rally. When Booker first started speaking to the reporter, he was all gung-ho let's deal with climate change, but then the reporter asked "What do you say to the oil worker who just wants to feed his family?" and on a dime, Booker pivoted. Now he gushed about how we need to make this careful, considerate transition so no worker is left behind. He said that because he MUST say that in a democracy if he has any hope of surviving politically.
And that's the major impediment to truly substantive, meaningful change in the time frame left to us before climate-induced chaos overwhelms governance:
Short-term needs will always outweigh long-term needs.
All these people who are marching so fervently to prevent climate change are oblivious to what meaningful action would entail, how quickly it would have to be enacted, how much it would affect their life right now, today, and how badly. Massive job losses, business and infrastructure shut down, building and construction shut down, many of the conveniences of modern life stripped away.
What these people want is a controlled transition, without huge personal sacrifices. There is still no recognition that painless transitions -- ones that Cory Booker can champion with a smile on his face -- take too long.