Fortunately, Greta Thunberg is not shouting her standard mantra during a newly released ad meant to capture attention toward her favorite topic – climate change. There is no screeching declaration of “Our house is on fire” heard. Instead, a family goes about beginning their day as the rooms of the family home are on fire. All of them are oblivious to the flames all around them. Then as the ad ends, the words appear on the screen. “Our house is on fire.” “React.”

A little on the nose, wouldn’t you say? Thunberg’s outrage is centered around her belief that people around the world are not paying attention to climate change. Her organization, Fridays for Future, is all about organizing protests and marches and rallies with young people taking the lead. Sadly, gullible adults have followed her call and joined in with the precocious Swedish teenager, perfectly content to be guided by a high school student who aspires to dictate environmental policy around the world.

Adweek describes the ad as ‘visceral’. That’s an apt description. The climate change movement is centered around appealing to the emotions of its followers. What better way to appeal to suburban moms and dads than to use a backdrop that could be their own home or family morning routine? The spreading fire speaks to the urgency alleged by the activists.

“We believe it’s time people realize that climate change isn’t going to happen, but that it’s already happening,” said Joe Hobbs, an organizer at Fridays for Future U.S. “You may have become accustomed to it, but it’s a serious problem we face on a daily basis. Unfortunately, we’ve moved past the time where it’s enough just to be worried. We need immediate, collective action. We hope that by watching this video, people will realize they need to take action now instead of putting it off until later.”

FF Los Angeles, an advertising agency that has previously done work to promote Thunberg’s organization, is behind the Earth Day ad. The purpose is to remind people that though carbon emissions are down now due to the international economic shutdown, pollution levels will increase as business and commerce re-open back up. Hysteria is necessary to promote the urgency of the topic in their way of thinking. We earthlings only have 12 years until we all die from climate change, you know.

“This young and highly inspiring organization founded by visionary activist Greta Thunberg is making a huge impact, and our agency is honored to help in any way that we can,” wrote the founders of FF (previously known as Fred & Farid), who collaborated with Fridays for Future on “Local Warming,” a December campaign that reimagined beloved destinations after climate change.

This is a good time to point out that the Webby Awards will get a little political this year. The Webby Awards are presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences to honor excellence on the Internet.

The Webby Awards executive director Claire Graves said, “The global impact of Covid-19 has exposed the importance of competent leadership at every level of government to ensure the health and safety of its citizens. It’s become clearer than ever before that voting matters. That’s why we’re so excited to work with Vote.org to do our part to help make voter turnout in the 2020 election the biggest in U.S. history.”

Vote.org CEO Andrea Hailey added, “We are thrilled to be partnering with the Webby Awards to encourage millions of people to check their registration status. There has never been a more important time for voters to have access to digital tools that empower them to participate in our democracy from their home. With Covid-19, we see election rules and access to voting changing every day. It is critical to ensure that every eligible voter in America can have their voice heard this November.”

Miss Thunberg is sticking with her message and that of leftists here in the United States, too. They want to use the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to ramp up efforts to push their socialist agendas. The 50th observation of Earth Day this week gives them a reason to point to the international shutdown of life as we know it and say, see, if we listen to scientists we can change everything. That everything includes economic disaster across the globe, but never mind.

“Whether we like it or not, the world has changed. It looks completely different now from how it did a few months ago. It may never look the same again. We have to choose a new way forward,” she told a YouTube audience in a virtual meeting to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

“If the coronavirus crisis has shown us one thing, it is that our society is not sustainable. If one single virus can destroy economies in a couple of weeks, it shows we are not thinking long-term and taking risks into account.”

Ah, to be so young and naive. We don’t like it, Greta. People want to work and support their families. Commerce can not simply stop in order to satisfy fever dreams of some environmental activists for a world in which there are zero carbon emissions.

Other youth climate change activists didn’t let shelter-in-place mandates stop their Earth Day events, they just put them online. The United States Youth Climate Strike Coalition organized a three-day event.

With social gatherings postponed indefinitely as people worldwide practice social distancing to stave off the novel coronavirus pandemic, youth activists are bringing methods of civil disobedience online. This week, the United States Youth Climate Strike Coalition, composed of youth groups across the U.S., helped create Earth Day Live — a three-day climate programming event marking the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day in 1970 — to affirm that climate action is needed now more than ever.

Against all odds, the climate movement has persisted to organize national actions that encapsulate our demands, while preserving the safety of those most at-risk. We cannot march or gather in public without risking the health of those around us. We cannot protest in traditional ways, nor can we storm legislatures to demand our lawmakers vote with our interests in mind. In Earth Day Live, we’ve prepared programming that outlines our need for big banks to divest from the fossil fuel industry, our rallying cries to turn out the youth vote, and our desire for immediate legislation that protects against further global warming and environmental disenfranchisement of our most vulnerable communities.

Pressing forward with solutions is challenging. But canceling Earth Day was never an option — being a climate activist, at its very core, is about persistence in the face of catastrophe.

I’ll end with this little nugget – last night actress/activist Jane Fonda was a contestant on the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? She was sporting a Fire Drill Fridays sweater because of course, she was. The celebrity contestants are playing for their favorite charities. Hanoi Jane didn’t make it to the top prize of $1 million. She walked away with $125,000 for Fire Drill Fridays. That should pay for a few more protests and fines. Oh boy.

Here we go! Join me tonight on #WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire at 10|9c on ABC! @firedrillfriday @millionairetv pic.twitter.com/tur3S8ntmd

— Jane Seymour Fonda (@Janefonda) April 22, 2020