This past weekend I came across environmental activist Greta Thunberg’s satirical advertisement for life on Mars. Her climate strike movement, Fridays for Future, produced the clip in response to NASA’s Perseverance rover landing on Mars earlier this week. The video is a critique at the billions of dollars allocated to space research, while our own planet is currently in a state of climate emergency. Furthermore, the video calls attention to the fact that the vast majority of people will not benefit from this type of space research in their lifetime. The pointed advert ends by reading, “And for the 99 percent who will stay on Earth, we’d better fix climate change.” Arguing that the one percent is the only beneficiary of such research, Thunberg is working to pave the way for younger generations to take action on climate change. A Fridays for Future representative claimed, “Government-funded space programs and the world’s ultra-wealthy one percent are laser focused on Mars (NASA’s Perseverance Rover alone cost $2.7 billion for development, launch, operations and analysis) – and yet, most humans will never get a chance to visit or live on Mars.” Despite this notion of Mars being a ‘Plan B’, the video touches on how important it is for us to continue repairing the damages we have done to the environment.
Given this, I believe it is crucial that we, as a generation, make sure to recognize how our nation has the means to stabilize the climate crisis we face. Thunberg’s advertisement seemed to be a call back to reality in terms of prioritizing the earth’s climate reparation. Luckily, the US government has been making small steps in the right direction since President Biden has reentered the Paris Agreement this past month. What we need is for the US government to begin implementing regulations that encourage carbon neutrality for major corporations across the country. Additionally, from the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw carbon emissions drop by 7% globally in 2020 because of the economic closure. This is evidence of the fact that we are able to slow global warming if we truly start to limit the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. With the help of our country's resources and those in power, we have the opportunity to reverse some of the destruction. Movements and organizations such as Fridays for Future play an important role in holding the world accountable and inspiring others to take action for generations to come.
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