AOC says the world will end in 12 years if we don't address climate change

[Brittain33]

Statement like hers only hurt the climate change action message.

...compared to what? We're not getting sufficient action now. People in her generation need to express the urgency they *should* feel given how bad their adult lives are going to be if we don't act.

[Brittain33]

God forbid we take climate change seriously. So far we are ignoring it. I hope she is successful in getting in to the top of the agenda where it belongs.

Hyperbolic rhetoric like this is part of what makes people not take it seriously.

No, what makes people not take it seriously is a coordinated misinformation campaign funded by fossil fuel interests and their conservative allies which helps people who don't want to make any changes or compromises to their lifestyle tell themselves it's ok for them to do so.

You can't point to any way that AOC's actions have made things *harder* for climate change action. Republicans are going to oppose no matter what, most are elderly and DGAF. The rest can be outvoted given time and strength on the Democratic side.

[Brittain33]

That explains why she's not worried about amassing tens of trillions of dollars in debt.  If we are all dead, it won't matter.

You may have intended this as a sick burn, but it’s got more than a little truth in it. We need to be putting the maximum $ we can into preventing and mitigating climate change or we will face economic blows that will shred any projections about social security sustainability or debt. It helps immensely that Republicans have proven that deficits and debt don’t matter.

[Brittain33]

Life is too short—our time is too short—to argue with outright deniers. We need to outvote them and raise awareness among the majority in the middle who sense something is happening but are too afraid or whose capacity for dealing with the magnitude of the issue is too constrained to fully acknowledge it. We have to look to our leaders in Congress, science, and industry to move forward as they can. There will be bitter enders, tribalists, deniers, people too old to care and we will never get them on the side of the future.