When two climate activists temporarily vandalized Stonehenge last week, they ignited debate about how environmentalists handle protests.
The British group “JUST STOP OIL” was behind the Stonehenge incident, which entailed one young member and one older member spraying dyed corn flour on the monument. Bystanders tried to pull the activists away from the site until eventually, both activists sat on the ground. As reported by the Atlantic, “conservative and moderate voices have reacted with outrage, while left-leaning environmentalists have argued that critics should be more concerned about the state of the planet than a bit of plant-based coloring that was easily removed.”
The broader issue we explore this hour is what the incident says about the state of environmental protests. Is an action like this – or throwing soup at the (glass protected) Mona Lisa or spray painting private jets – becoming a more common way to draw attention to a cause and produce change? How does the environmental activism of the past compare to the state of activism today? And what will it look like in the future?
Our guests are youth climate leaders who answer these questions and more.
Our guests:
- Ana Bansal, rising junior at Brighton High School and member of the Brighton Climate Club and the Rochester Youth Climate Leaders
- Lola DeAscentiis, rising junior at Harvard who hopes to go into environmental law
- Jordan Schwartz, rising sophomore at Harvard College studying government
- Phoebe Martin, rising senior at Brighton High School and member of the Rochester Youth Climate Leaders
