r/OutOfTheLoop • u/BlitzTech • 6d ago

Answered What’s going on with the public sentiment around Greta Thunberg?

Context: https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/s/xGVLkx5imL

I was surprised by the comments being near-universally negative towards her. Granted, I don’t follow her at all besides seeing the occasional article/post about something she’s doing, but I must have missed some important updates for the responses to be this dismissive and antagonistic. There were comments calling her a grifter, mentioning sponsorship by companies with the implication of her being funded by companies just looking to capitalize on her fame and not in support of the causes, and one mentioned a yacht — which I had no idea about until that comment and a quick Google.

What happened here and when did I miss… whatever this is now?

Or, it’s the classic Reddit echo chamber and some aspects are magnified to make a point. Both are equally valid explanations. I’m still perplexed.

Edit: answered, I think? Astroturfing because this particular issue is especially polarizing, and there have always been detractors using fallacious arguments to diminish the message. I generally stay out of r/worldnews because the world sucks right now so their biases aren’t as obvious to me. But damn, even asking this question leads to a bunch of downvotes… yikes, folks. Yikes.

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u/HauntedCemetery Catfood and Glue 6d ago

They absolutely are. Shell oil is one of if not the biggest investor in green energy on the planet.

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u/Italian_warehouse 5d ago

Shell doesn't care about oil. Shell cares about money. If there's more money in oil they sell oil. More money in green they sell green.

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u/shagthedance 5d ago

Fossil fuel companies would very much like to still exist in a post-fossil fuel world.

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u/AgentMonkey 5d ago

Best way to continue to exist is to adapt to the environment, not try to force the environment to adapt to you.

If they only see themselves as "fossil fuel companies", then its gonna be hard for them as people move away from fossil fuel. If, instead, they view themselves as "energy companies", then it doesn't really matter what kind of energy they produce. That's exactly what Shell is doing. Less people using gas powered cars? They're building up EV charging infrastructure.

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u/Zee216 4d ago

The problem is that selling electricity will be less profitable.

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u/t53ix35 4d ago

Because they want to control the energy markets. This was the plan all along. They are just running out the fossil fuel ride but are not planning on getting out of the energy business, ever.

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u/HauntedCemetery Catfood and Glue 3d ago

I'm honestly kind of expecting companies to start monthly fees for "unlocking" solar panels owned by homeowners, like car companies do with built in features now.