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This past Wednesday, two climate protestors were arrested after they sprayed orange paint on Stonehenge, the famous prehistoric structure in southern England that’s long been a UNESCO World Heritage Site and thought to be at least 4,500 years old (and probably a lot older than that).
Last night, climate protestors with a separate group ran onto the green of the 18th hole in the closing stretch of the PGA Tour’s Traveler’s Championship, setting off smoke devices and generally causing a ruckus before quickly being apprehended by law enforcement.
These are the two latest high profile incidents in which some climate protestors engage in various degrees of performative vandalism or event obstruction in a supposed bid to draw greater attention to the most existential problem of our time: the imminent and catastrophic consequences of climate change.
Other notable protests, which you may have seen, have included: throwing tomato soup on priceless works of art, gluing hands (yes, literally gluing their hands) to either artworks or the installations holding such pieces, interrupting other various major sports events, sabotaging live stage productions, and basically most things that generally bring people temporary joy away from the dreary march of their day-to-day lives.
And therein lies the problem with all this.
Because the big rocks at Stonehenge will be just fine (the paint was easily cleaned) and there have been no artworks damaged (they’re typically protected by glass) and the interruptions at sports events and dramatic plays and other live entertainment may be a nuisance but aren’t really that big a deal.
There’s not really anything in the way of enduring damage and destruction from these protests, and the groups behind them are quick to point out that they intentionally carry out these direct actions with the knowledge that there will be little-to-no harm inflicted.
I believe them on that score, and I certainly support the cause. Climate change is, by far, the biggest problem facing humanity, and nothing else comes remotely close to its impact.
This will be the hottest year on record for global temperatures. In Saudi Arabia, it’s estimated that more than 1,300 people have already died from heat-related injuries during the Hajj pilgrimage, where temperatures have consistently topped 120°F. In the United States, a third of the country were under heat warnings this weekend, which is not-at-all normal.
Of course, if you really wanna be depressed today, I highly recommend this write-up from The Guardian, in which they surveyed 380 climate scientists on how they felt about what’s to come. The answers are… well… let’s just say I’d wait until you’re in a good mood to read it.
But the climate protestors who engage in these counterproductive shenanigans have consistently failed to grasp a very basic concept: it is not enough in mass communications to merely be right about something. It is not enough to be logical. It is not enough to be the smartest kid in the class.
You can be thoroughly correct—morally, ethically, spiritually, whatever—but unless you’re willing to meet people where they are and engage in tough but necessary conversations and exercise patience with those who may not see the world exactly as you do, simply being correct and having a nickel is worth exactly five cents.
I have tried my best to be charitable with these particular protestors. For a while, I thought they were simply making a very big bet: that the public would initially be annoyed with their antics but then become aware of the horrific crisis facing our planet and then be radicalized toward action.
I never quite saw it that way and believed it to be a ludicrously naïve position, but I also initially sympathized because they seemed to be earnestly trying to galvanize folks in the fight against global warming.
That was several years ago, and I don’t feel that way anymore. I now feel annoyed and angry whenever this nonsense happens, and it’s not because of supposed property damage or the irritating spectacle of a golf tournament being delayed.
It’s because I know that not only are these protests failing to bring people into what should be a collective struggle against climate change, but they’re compounding the exact opposite effect: people are increasingly associating climate activism with the exasperating narcissism on display during these acts of vandalism and obstruction.
In fact, polling has consistently reflected this. A survey of the British public by the University of Bristol last August found that almost 70 percent disapproved of Just Stop Oil, the climate group behind many of these ill-conceived projects, including the Stonehenge fiasco. In a YouGov poll from January 2023, more than 60 percent of respondents believed that defacing art or monuments should be a criminal offense.
In Germany, a survey taken in November 2022 found that more than 80 percent of respondents felt that climate protests had gone too far.
Then, of course, there’s the United States: a survey done by Pew Research Center last October found abysmal enthusiasm for climate advocacy; 49 percent said climate activism doesn’t affect the public’s opinion and 21 percent believed it has the opposite effect.
Folks, really, what are we doing here? Is this really about the climate or our own self-important activism?
I’m not supposed to say that. I’m supposed to be overly-empathetic here and pretend that these efforts come from a good place, but honestly, I have my doubts. It feels as though, lately, acts like these, especially in light of a clear failure to move the needle, are prioritizing performance over efficacy, more about posturing for social media than actually reaching people.
I can hear the yelling now: “Fine, Charlotte, what the hell should we do? Since you seem to know everything, how do we save the planet?”
Well, for starters, not by doing any of the above. Put down the spray paint. Stop gluing your hands to stuff in museums like a complete weirdo. Soup belongs in bowls, not on artwork. Maybe don’t try to sabotage events that bring a lot of people joy like you’re a child hopped up on too much sugar and needing attention because your sibling is opening birthday presents and you’re not the center of everyone’s focus.
Because that’s legitimately how it feels to the rest of the world, even though of us who are soul-crushingly informed on how climate change is poised to destroy all we love and hold dear. It feels like these particular protestors are more about promoting their own activist personal branding than building an effective campaign to raise awareness and compel action.
The people in the climate movement whom I most admire are those doing the thankless work of going into spaces with uninformed or uninvolved people—meeting them where they are, not judging them—and respectfully making the case for why they’re desperately needed to stop what’s coming. And it works.
But that’s hard. That takes a lot of work. It’s certainly a hell of a lot harder than doing a flashy stunt for the ‘Gram that impresses a few people but repulses a few million.
If a protest doesn’t ultimately yield greater support for its corresponding cause, it is not successful, and we are doing ourselves no favors when our protests for righteous causes center ego over outreach, clicks and views over results, and self over service.
Caring about the people on this planet should inherently mean making the effort to reach them, and these acts feel like a lazy shortcut.
And for all the paint that’s been used, it’s an approach that’s ironically the opposite of artful.
These Climate Protests Really Suck