Sometimes life imitates art. In the popular show “Game of Thrones,” itself a metaphor for our climate crisis, an adolescent girl uses her power to support Jon Snow in his fight against the White Walkers. This teen is Lyanna Mormont, recognized by her blunt talk and dark hair pulled back in a braid. The world received its Lyanna Mormont in September.

Greta Thunberg, an environmental hero who made a transatlantic voyage on a carbon-free boat and inspired a school strike for climate awareness, shook the world with her speeches both in Congress and in the U.N. In both speeches, Thunberg called out those in positions of power who refuse to step up to the threat of climate change.

In her UN speech, the sixteen year old said, “People are dying; entire ecosystems are collapsing … we are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”

I see Thunberg’s words as the manifestation of my generation’s thoughts. We are facing an increasingly dark future of food scarcity, drought, extreme weather, and mass-migration from the coasts to escape rising sea levels. All of this is due to the ignorance of world leaders.

As an individual citizen, I often feel frustrated at what I can do to change things. Sometimes I wish I could speak directly to those in the position of power who can.

Greta Thunberg did that, but even with the vast applause following each of her points, I believe world leaders will continue to do nothing as the New York Times reports.

President Xi Jinping of China, a country signed to the Paris Climate Accords, has made very little progress in its goals of curbing emissions. Instead, the country is focused on its faltering economy and the trade-war with the United States.

President Donald Trump of the United States has made it a point of his administration to roll back protective environmental laws. Additionally, Trump has removed the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada has served as a poster boy for progressive change in hopes of combating climate change. Despite that, Trudeau has moved forward on increasing oil production. The oil pipe being constructed under Trudeau will run through indigenous lands and will be used, ironically, to fund cleaner energy.

President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, in a nationalistic move, has declared the Amazon rainforest belongs to the country. Supposedly, Brazil can do anything it wants with the forest, including letting it burn. Despite being a part of the Paris Climate Accords, Brazil has made no moves to meet its goals.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India has made loud pronouncements of the need for laws and regulations to fight climate change. However, he has not made any moves to solve his country’s coal dependency.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia, despite his environment-bro persona (taking shirtless pictures petting tigers, calling Leonardo Dicaprio a “real man” for his environmental causes), hasn’t met his goals for the Paris Climate Accords. He also continues the vast oil production for the state-run petroleum industry.

The youth have created and led many movements throughout history. This stretches back to the 60s with the Anti-War movement or more recently with the March for Our Lives movement created by students of the Parkland shooting. As with any movement, the opponents try to recontextualize the main message.

With Greta Thunberg, her critics try to recontextualize her image into a more sinister one. Some have shrugged her off as a thoughtless child, a puppet controlled by adults, and some even suggest she’s a figment of nazi propaganda.

This is why I bring up the “Game of Thrones” comparison to recontextualize Thunberg. She is not the Children of the Corn, a mindless puppet, or a nazi. She is a girl with convictions and a leader of a movement. World leaders, though, won’t listen to her because she is a child in their eyes.

Greta Thunberg may be our Lyanna Mormont, a blunt talker with a tight braid, but we must step up in one of the few ways we can: we must vote. If there’s one thing Greta Thunberg has proven it’s that you can tell the truth to power, but it may be better to have power that can hear the truth.

True Dabill can be reached at dabi7280@stthomas.edu.