Climate change cultists and their supporters are some of the most hypocritical people you will ever come across, not to mention rank at about 20 on a scale of one to ten when it comes to sanctimonious righteousness.
But every once in a while, some of them end up getting their just deserts, and that is exactly what some are saying happened to Wellington, Australia teen climate change activist Izzy Cook, who went on a New Zealand radio program Friday to talk about her and her fellow students’ participation in the annual School Strike for Climate worldwide “protest” that took place last week.
But during the course of the interview, host Heather du Plessis-Allan questioned Cook on her activism and asked her if people should have to get permission to fly and if she (du Plessis-Allan) should be allowed to go to Fiji. It went downhill for Cook from there. Here’s how the back and forth went down (transcribed from the video):
HDPA: “So we would have to apply to have, like, approved events to be able to fly for?”
IC: “Well, that’s one thing that you could look at doing.”
HDPA: “Am I allowed to go to Fiji? Is that necessary?”
IC: “In the current climate crisis, I don’t think that that’s necessary travel.”
HDPA: “When was the last time you were on a plane?”
IC: [Pause] “Um, I’m not sure. Maybe a few months ago, to be honest.”
HDPA: “Where’d you go?”
IC: [Long pause] “Fiji.”
HDPA: [Laughter ensues] “Izzy! Izzy! Don’t you care about the climate, Izzy?”
IC: “Of course, I care about the climate.”
HDPA: “Not enough. You went to Fiji! Izzy, come on, mate! Are you serious?” [Laughter]
IC: [Pauses] “It’s pretty ironic. It is pretty ironic, but to be honest, it’s not really a trip that I wanted to go on, but I can’t really get out of it.”
When Cook was pressed on why she went, she essentially told du Plessis-Allan that her parents made her go. The host then mockingly asked her if she was embarrassed that her parents did damage to the planet with their plane trip and “forced” her along for the ride. When Cook said “of course” she wasn’t embarrassed, she was asked if she had a “terrible time.” She said in response, “not really.”
Listen to the exchange below:
Climate change activist Izzy Cook goes on the radio warning people not to travel overseas to remote locations like Fiji. To save the planet, of course.
When she's asked where she last went, she says Fiji. The interviewer can't stop laughing at her. 🙃 pic.twitter.com/4zJaQczXZK
— Catch Up (@CatchUpNetwork) September 27, 2022
Not surprisingly, leftist Karens who hate it when their side is held to their own standards have started doing their thing:
Here’s some useful info for those of you who didn’t think that the interview technique by Heather du Plessis-Allan of Climate activist Izzy Cook was an appropriate way to treat a young person. https://t.co/s2oWFjICZH
— Zara in Auckland (@zara_auckland) September 26, 2022
Cook’s mother Rose Cook was so outraged by the so-called “bullying” treatment she says her daughter received on the program that she took to the Internet to condemn what happened, and in the process inadvertently informed the world that she was the, ahem, guiding force behind her daughter’s school-skipping activism (language warning):
On Friday evening, I listened in horror as my 16 year old daughter had a phone conversation with someone who appeared to be bullying her, laughing at her, and talking over her. As soon as she got off the call I demanded to know who the hell was speaking to my child in this way.
[…]
Commentators like du Plessis-Allan don’t give a shit about climate change. They don’t care that Arctic ice is melting at four times the expected rate, or that we are seeing more and more extreme weather events killing and displacing people across the globe. No, as du Plessis-Allan is fond of reminding us, it’s the economy that matters, not our planet. These sorts of commentators use ad hominem arguments and “gotcha” moments for point-scoring and discrediting their opponents. We saw it when Mike Hosking opined that Greta Thunberg is “the world’s most annoying kid” and when Duncan Garner said she was “too dramatic” to take seriously. It’s a common tactic used to deflect from the climate crisis, instead of focusing on the actions that we need to take in a rational, reflective manner. They seem particularly keen to go after our youth, whose future is most at stake.
“They seem particularly keen to go after our youth, whose future is most at stake.” This line in particular stuck out at me as the particularly telling part of Rose Cook’s diatribe. Like others on the far left, she expects teenage activists including her daughter to be able to go out and “be independent” and express their opinions, and in some cases be turned into international icons as Thunberg has, but don’t you dare question them because if you do then you’re a bully or something for “picking on a child” or whatever.
We saw this same warped mentality after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting tragedy in 2018. Some of the teens from the school immediately went the activist route with the help of anti-gun organizations that were on standby, and yet when those same students were questioned on their statements, pro-Second Amendment conservatives were blasted as insensitive, hateful bullies who didn’t care how many children were murdered as long as they could keep their guns. An entire segment on CNN, which aired one week after the mass shooting, was devoted to perpetuating that very stereotype.
Sorry, but if you’re out there advocating for any type of “change,” especially the kind that has the potential to nuke basic Constitutional rights and/or upend entire countries, you’re going to be subjected to scrutiny whether you’re a teen sensation or a veteran of the protest circuit. It’s just that simple. You don’t get a pass because you’re a teenager.
That said, the better thing to do in these instances is for the adults to do the arguing and debating rather than to send a teenager to do their bidding for them. But then again, the whole point for these people in sending out teen activists is to shut down any and all criticism of their actions, right?
As to the “saga” of Izzy Cook, this take seemed most on-point of the ones I read:
The whole Izzy Cook saga has taught us two valuable lessons.
1) Child climate protestors are just pawns used by ill-informed, delusional, eco fascist, parents, teachers and politicians.
2) 16 year olds should not vote.— Michael (@Merlotmike) September 26, 2022
‘Nuff said.
Story cited here.
