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Climate Activist Greta Thunberg Sails Into NYC on Zero-Emissions Yacht

At 16, Greta Thunberg has a very impressive list of achievements, including traveling all over the world to speak on climate change, actually prompting change with Swedish politicians, inspiring millions around the world and being named Sweden’s woman of the year for 2019.
Greta Thunberg sails into Manhattan on zero-emissions yacht 4 photos
Photo: Twitter / Greta Thunberg
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The other day, Thunberg sailed into New York on a zero-emissions yacht, completing a 2-week journey at sea that was closely followed by media outlets, other eco-warriors and even her critics. Upon setting foot on solid ground, she delivered a message to US President Donald Trump, the New York Times reports.

Prior to that, before leaving from Plymouth, England, she said she wouldn’t even try to meet with Trump, who is notably against the very idea of climate change, which he once described as “bulls**t” and another time as something China invented to scare off the rest of the world. She couldn’t possibly say anything to him that he hadn’t heard, so what was the point of meeting, Greta said.

It seems that she did find something to tell him, after all – chalk that up to the wonders of spending 2 weeks at sea, in peace and quiet. And her message is very simple: “Just to listen to the science,” she says. “He obviously doesn’t do that,” Greta adds as an afterthought.

It’s been a little over a year since Thunberg shot to international fame, when she started skipping school so she could protest outside the Swedish parliament for the need for stricter measures to fight climate change. Since then, she started the Fridays for Future movement, which is a worldwide organized “strike” by fellow students in other countries, who skip school to protest. She’s also been traveling the world to deliver her message and criticize politicians for inaction.

Her first victory though was getting her mother, a famous opera singer, to stop flying because of the high level of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere with every flight.

For her latest trip, she boarded the Malizia II in Plymouth. It’s a racing yacht equipped with solar panels and underwater turbines that generate whatever electricity it needs. “The yacht was skippered by a German sailor, Boris Herrmann, and Pierre Casiraghi, a son of Princess Caroline of Monaco. It collects data that allow scientists to study rates of ocean acidification, a byproduct of carbon emissions,” the NY Times says.

Greta doesn’t expect everyone to sail across the world on zero-emissions yachts, but she hopes at least people will consider twice before boarding a plane.



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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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