Greta Thunberg Detained by Police at German Mine

Facts

• On Tuesday, the famed 20-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg was detained by German police near an open-cast coal mine in the western city of Aachen, which borders Belgium and the Netherlands.¹
• City authorities said Thunberg, along with other protesters, 'rushed toward the ledge' of the mine before officers carried her 'out of the immediate danger area.' Aachen police added that Thunberg and the others were not formally arrested and were released after an identification check.²
• Over the weekend, riot police backed by bulldozers removed protesters from buildings in the village of Lützerath, with only a few left in trees and an underground tunnel. Thunberg then led a sit-in protest when one activist jumped into the mine and sustained injuries.³
• Thunberg's detainment, her second since the protests began Saturday, comes as Germany debates coal use during the Russia-Ukraine war. Germany is largely cut off from Russian gas, and it has started burning lignite coal as an energy source — though activists argue lignite is the most health-harming form of coal.⁴
• Activists also claim that the coal mine's expansion will release vast amounts of greenhouse gases and violate Germany's commitments to the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Thunberg tweeted that the expansion is a project that 'people have been resisting for years.'¹

Sources: ¹NBC, ²Forbes, ³Guardian and ⁴New York Post.

Narratives

• Right narrative, as provided by PJ Media. Though more of a naive pawn, Greta Thunberg is following in the footsteps of famous climate alarmists like Paul Ehrlich and Al Gore. Her claims aren't exactly like Ehrlich's — who predicted England wouldn't exist by the year 2000 — but the 'rising climate star' is engaged in the same fear-mongering. The only goal is to strip away the rights and life necessities of regular people so that they alone can feel good about fantastically saving the planet from the inevitable climate apocalypse.
• Left narrative, as provided by Uproxx. Greta Thunberg is once again on the front lines of the war to end the destructive fossil fuel industry and promote clean energy for the future. Not only is she brave online, but she walks the walk because she knows how important the climate emergency is to future generations. She is a true activist for a better world.

Predictions