--- title: On Earth Day, Don't Fall for Political Distractions description: As people ask questions around collusion and obstruction of justice and Medicare for all, we must remember to put climate change first canonical: https://time.com/5574056/earth-day-2019-climate-change-politics/ author: Robert Redford article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-04-22T11:00:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:50.438Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Robert Redford: Don’t Fall for Political Distractions. Saving Our Planet Must Come First og:description: A message for the 49th Earth Day og:url: https://time.com/5574056/earth-day-2019-climate-change-politics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9500668dda31da5b/698948a07cdbacfc1bd5f63f/earth-day-robert-redford-climate-change-politics-global-warming.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2048 og:image:height: 1152 og:image:alt: Earth From One Million Miles og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Robert Redford: Don’t Fall for Political Distractions. Saving Our Planet Must Come First twitter:description: A message for the 49th Earth Day twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9500668dda31da5b/698948a07cdbacfc1bd5f63f/earth-day-robert-redford-climate-change-politics-global-warming.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Don’t Fall for Political Distractions. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=668f7490-287d-4a4b-9907-9d90493c4c2c&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 'It Will Be Too Late for My Generation.' Meet the Teens Who Organized a Massive Climate Change Protest [Watch (HLS stream): 'It Will Be Too Late for My Generation.' Meet the Teens Who Organized a Massive Climate Change Protest](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vLP3xXfT.m3u8) (3:43)  _Published 2019-03-14. 'It Will Be Too Late for My Generation.' Meet the Teens Who Organized a Massive Climate Change Protest_  by [Robert Redford](https://time.com/author/robert-redford/)  ## Robert Redford Apr 22, 2019 11:00 AM UTC  Earth as seen from a distance of one million miles by a NASA scientific camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory spacecraft on July 6, 2015. Earth as seen from a distance of one million miles by a NASA scientific camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory spacecraft on July 6, 2015. NASA/Getty Images  by [Robert Redford](https://time.com/author/robert-redford/)  ## Robert Redford Apr 22, 2019 11:00 AM UTC Collusion, [obstruction of justice](http://time.com/5573521/donald-trump-obstruction-justice/), impeachment or not, greedy tax breaks, medical care for all or none, refugees seeking compassion at our borders — as a citizen, I care deeply about all these things. But I also fail to see how any of it will matter [without a planet](http://time.com/5550823/climate-change-protest-schoolchildren/) to live on. We are approaching an [irreversible tipping point](http://time.com/5418134/ipcc-climate-change-report-2030-crisis/). The science of climate change is backed by examples of the damage mankind has caused all around us, every day and everywhere. None of us are immune anymore; no matter where we live, [no matter our political party](http://time.com/5462102/climate-change-report-trump-science/). I can’t think of anything that should compel and demand our attention more. What will it take for our [short-sighted leadership](http://time.com/5554996/epa-chief-climate-change-threat/) to stop questioning the reality of this global crisis? It’s hard to believe, but 49 years ago a new awareness of our environmental responsibilities was born. The [founding of Earth Day](http://time.com/3772160/earth-day/) marked an important moment in time, a pivotal recognition of how precious and fragile and sacred our connection is to our natural world. And on this Earth Day, I find myself searching for words to express my [sense of urgency](http://time.com/5530374/europe-climate-change/) on behalf of our one and only home — to create yet another new awareness of those same responsibilities. President Trump has promised to withdraw from the [Paris Agreement](http://time.com/5195459/climate-change-trump-paris-agreement-patricia-espinosa/), appointed climate change deniers to [head the EPA](http://time.com/5569214/epa-chief-andrew-wheeler-climate-change/), weakened protections for clean air and water, and tried to cut funding efforts to advance renewable energy. He has made terrible decisions followed by worse decisions. It’s heartbreaking, yet we’re all in this mess together. It’d be pretty thoughtless to pretend we’re not [divided right now in America](http://time.com/5433987/guns-common-ground/). There are many complex reasons for this, but I stubbornly continue to believe that more unites us underneath it all, and that when push comes to shove, we all want a better and [healthier future](http://time.com/5547063/hans-blix-nuclear-energy-environment/) for our children and grandchildren. Many young people have not waited to ask for permission to change things because, unlike some of us, they’ve wisely realized they are literally [fighting for their lives](http://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2019/5567758/greta-thunberg/). They’ve watched as our leaders unravel protections instead of strengthening them, [argue endlessly](http://time.com/5543102/2020-election-climate-change/) without doing enough to advance innovation, and pass the buck, hoping someone else will save us. We’ve wasted so much already, but the most tragic loss has been time. I’d give anything to be celebrating this Earth Day with enthusiasm for [our progress](http://time.com/5558370/green-new-deal-senate-vote/), pride for our American creativity, global [leadership](http://time.com/5539302/jay-inslee-climate-change/) and collaboration in tackling the largest challenges of our times, remembrances of how wasteful and short-term our thinking had once been, and how far we’d come since that first gathering in 1970. So what should we do with the rapidly shrinking window of opportunity we have left? I suggest we finally make it count by [electing leaders](http://time.com/5416793/climate-change-ban-ki-moon-trump/) who share our vision for the future, our values and impatience and frustrations. By making our voices heard in every local, regional and national election possible, and by encouraging [the next generations](http://time.com/5549331/youth-climate-strike-ecokids/) to take over and demand the changes mine could not deliver. There should be no “climate change candidates” or “climate change voters” — because each one of us should put this issue at the top of our list of why we choose to elect who we do. It’s more important than ever to remember we do not have to share the same motivations to want the same outcomes. Our children deserve to look back after 100 Earth Days and [breathe](http://time.com/5050613/ellie-goulding-clean-air/) a sigh of clean, healthy relief, knowing that when our eyes were wide open, when all the facts were known, we did everything we could for them. We corrected our course, and we changed the outcome. Nothing [stands in our way](http://time.com/5572791/lil-dicky-climate-change-earth/) but ourselves. ## Transcript [00:00] March 15th is going to make history, there's never [00:03] been a global day of climate action where students all [00:06] around the world are taking action for the same exact [00:09] cause, a lot of these tracks are happening in Europe, [00:12] Australia and Canada and the US even places [00:17] in Uganda, Chile, Japan. Greta [00:22] Thunberg is a 16- year- old climate activist. She [00:26] decided to go strike in front of her local Swedish [00:29] parliament in 2018. And from that, she sparked a [00:33] global movement of students striking to put pressure [00:37] on their world leaders to take climate action. I want [00:40] you to feel the fear I feel every day, and then I [00:44] want you to act. I want you to act as if you [00:49] would in a crisis. I want you to act as if [00:53] the house was on fire. Because it is. [ NOISE ] [01:01] There's 11 years until climate change becomes [01:04] irreversible. That's what the IPCC report that came out [01:07] last October said. Students realize that we need the [01:10] action now and they can't wait till they're in positions of [01:13] power because By then it'll be too late for my [01:16] generation. An IPTC report said that we have until [01:20] 2030. That kinda hit me hard because my little sister [01:22] is suppose to graduate high school in 2030. We talk [01:26] about people's futures but we when you know that [01:28] somebody probably won't be able to have a decent [01:32] climate and they're so close to you Last summer, was [01:35] the worst, worst fire [01:39] season for air quality in Colorado, especially since [01:40] we've so much fracking pollution and car exhaust, so it [01:41] hurt to breath. And that was scary, it hurt to breath. [01:42] Yes the youth We don't really have any legal power. We [01:46] can't vote, we [01:52] can't do anything. [01:57] I can't even sign up to get a permit to have a rally [02:00] without having my parents sign for it. [02:06] So we strike. And we're trying to get you adults through [02:08] attention. We're trying to get you to actually start [02:13] acting. [ MUSIC ] I'm [02:18] striking not just to say strike, but striking because [02:21] climate change is bigger than any other thing that is [02:25] going on in my life right now. I would say to [02:29] all the big fossil fuel organizations, all of [02:33] the countries that are not acting to solve this crisis, Can [02:37] you please put aside your money and protect my [02:42] future and protect future generations? [ MUSIC ] [02:47] What [02:49] I hope to come out of this Youth Climate Strike, for my [02:53] community in particular, is just some action or some [02:56] acknowledgment of the climate crisis and of the young [02:59] people growing up in the climate crisis. As of right [03:02] now, the politicians in Alabama have been extremely [03:06] silent on the issue of climate and global warming. And [03:10] the things that they have said haven't been entirely [03:13] true, entirely based on science. There will be more [03:18] climate strikes. There will be more direct action taken [03:20] by students all across the world. We will not be [03:23] stopping. We are going to do really whatever it takes. I [03:27] have gotten some push back from social media, mostly [03:31] adults who finds all these climate strikers threatening. [03:36] It means that we're actually, our voices are getting [03:39] heard by even those who don't wanna hear it. [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5574056/earth-day-2019-climate-change-politics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5574056/earth-day-2019-climate-change-politics/"},"headline":"Don’t Fall for Political Distractions. 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