Environmental issues are not something you can “choose” to believe in. Climate change is not Santa Claus. Global warming is not Hogwarts. These insane problems are already being faced by people around the world.

Climate change is flooding areas of India, and drying other parts of the country. Global warming is increasing the temperature of the oceans, which causes these hurricanes in the gulf coast and the Atlantic ocean to become stronger and stronger. These are not just freak parts of nature, but direct effects of this global crisis, that will just keep getting worse and worse the longer people choose to believe that they can have an opinion about scientific fact.

We live in a bubble. As high schoolers in northern Indiana, we live in a protective bubble that keeps us safe from the real world. We don’t have to deal with long droughts or flooding because our land was not made to handle rain. We don’t have hurricanes destroying our homes twice a year. We don’t have to worry about running out of water or having food shortages because our crops are destroyed by the inconsistency of weather. 

As people become more aware of the situation at hand, there is just more denial and hatred on the people that want to create change in the world. The climate activism movement is becoming stronger and more powerful, especially as my generation is rising up and taking our earth back from the greedy, selfish, and all powerful generation that has ruined the earth for my generation, my children’s generation, and every future generation that will come after ours. 

As up and coming 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg said at the Global Climate summit this past week, “You are failing us, but young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I day; We will never forgive you.”

The destruction of my future and the destruction of any positive world ahead of us, is unforgivable. How is it okay to deny what scientists say. How can people live with the fact their decisions are causing mass destruction all over the world that is only going to get worse?

Environmental issues are fact, and whether you want to ignore it or not, if we don’t do something about this soon, we are never going to come back from this crisis. 

I am not saying this to destroy business, I am not saying this to destroy the economy, I am not doing this to form a political agenda. I am 18-years-old for God’s sake. I am saying this because I want a life, I want a future. If we don’t start placing this blame on big corporations, if we don’t call, beg, and plead for a change in regulations for these businesses all over the world to stop ruining our atmosphere and land, we will not have this comfortable life for much longer.

So I will say it again; stop confusing your own personal opinion with the scientific facts. By denying this problem, you are prolonging the solutions, and soon, you will know you were wrong and will be for forgiveness from my generation. But we will not forgive you, we will simply be cleaning up your mess.