Sioux youth Tokata Iron Eyes invited Greta
to Standing Rock, North Dakota, where the Sioux and their allies tried
for years to block construction of a pipeline that now carries fracked
Bakken shale oil to an Illinois refinery, saying it puts water, rights
and climate at risk. She said she and Greta shouldn’t have to do this.
“No 16-year-old should have to travel the world in the first place
sharing a message about having something as simple as clean water and
fresh air to breathe,” she told The Guardian.

But those racing to extract as much of Earth’s limited fossil fuel supplies as possible before markets fall in the face of better, less-expensive alternatives
and an accelerating climate crisis don’t seem to care about clean air,
water and land. Politicians see fossil fuels as a way to boost
short-term economic growth, often blinded to any vision extending beyond
the next election. Industry heads see massive profits and continuation
of privilege.