Scientists delivered a sobering ultimatum about the state of the Amazon Rainforest: it would take 10 million years to replace the incredible level of biological diversity if we lost it.
And trust us, we would have to replace it. Calling the Amazon Rainforest the lungs of the planet isn’t an exaggeration — given it produces 20% of the world’s oxygen supply.
On the brink of such a catastrophe, we’d expect a forceful response from the seven most powerful nations on earth, right? We didn’t get one. They’re sending $20 million in aid — total, not each.
For context, we’ve already spent $100 million on Trump’s golf visits. We spend over $26 billion each year to prop up fossil fuel companies, and that’s just direct spending. The United States is set to spend $693 billion on defense just in 2019.
Leaders like Trump and Bolsonaro have evolved past the stage of being climate deniers — they’re officially catastrophe enablers. It’s not just their refusal to take powerful action on climate change that’s the issue, but their insistence on choices that accelerate us towards Armageddon.
But Trump and Bolsonaro are too far gone. We’ll never overcome their special interests, oil barons, and flat-out ignorance to wrangle real climate action out of them. That’s why for now, we have to target our next climate enemy: apathy.
Pa'lante,
Team AOC