With Amazon delivering goods to doorsteps in a matter of hours, roadways clogged with Uber and Lyft drivers, and a growing number of companies like DoorDash and Uber Eats offering meals to go (creating more trash), are we making the pollution problem worse?

In terms of actual resource consumption and the very important metric of carbon emissions, things are worse. In fact, emissions have increased since the Paris Accord was signed, even as many scientists decried its targets as insufficient to avoid the worst climate impacts.

The thing that has most improved is public awareness and desire for change. For the first time in the United States, a majority of people are concerned or alarmed about climate change. More voters than ever say that a candidate’s position on climate will influence their voting choice. And across the country—and around the world—young people are rising up, striking, marching, and demanding that our leaders lead while we still have the chance. So in spite of the actual state of the planet worsening, I am more hopeful than I have been in a long time.

Critics say your video frightens children and some take issue with your facts. How do you respond?

When the science is as clear as it is, I can’t be distracted by those who have vested interest in continuing business as usual that is threatening the very life support systems of the planet. We have to have a strong moral compass and strong understanding of the science. If we have both of those, we know it is scientifically and morally imperative to reduce carbon emissions and resource use—period. The science is crystal clear, but some people’s moral compasses are clouded by two things: politics and profit.

When someone critiques the very clear science, it’s good to look at who pays them. There is scientific consensus about climate change at this point; there are not two sides of this argument. The United States lags behind other countries in terms of public understanding of that, which is the result of decades of misinformation campaigns by the fossil fuel industries seeking to sow doubt and confusion.

Which candidate do you support for president this election year?

Greenpeace has a strict nonpartisan policy, so we remain independent and don’t endorse candidates. However, I will say that I personally am going to support a climate leader, since this next four years is absolutely essential if we are going to have a chance at meeting the emission reduction targets that both science and the Paris Accord require.

Greenpeace protesters are infamous for activist stunts (several were arrested last year for blocking a Texas bridge, shutting down the largest US fossil fuel thoroughfare). Do you encourage civil disobedience?

Civil disobedience can be a powerful tool to force change, but know that I don’t encourage it lightly. Civil disobedience, which often involves risking arrest, is not where we start the conversation. In the case of climate, activists have spent decades exhausting all the polite levers that our democracy offers us. We have petitioned and marched and testified in front of Congress. We have shared the science, made educational documentaries, and written letters to the editor and to our elected officials. And our country has not made progress anywhere near what is needed—and is now moving in the wrong direction with massive expansion of fossil fuels planned.
 
While fewer elected officials today will outright deny the climate crisis, they are not moving with the urgency needed. With the time frame we have left, there is no material difference between climate deniers and climate delayers. So those political and business leaders have left us no option but to raise the stakes through escalated protest, and even civil disobedience.

How many times have you been arrested for protesting?

I have personally been arrested about five times over my career, but as the window to avoid the worst climate impacts closes, I suggest we all need to get comfortable with peaceful protest and civil disobedience, like many who have come before us and made this country better.

You mend your own shoes, bring your bike in from the rain, and live in a “kampung”—an Indonesian term for a compound that’s home to a bunch of families. Who inspires you?

My mother, who taught me to appreciate the things I have rather than mindlessly consume, was an inspiration. Also, the many people I met in other countries who use far fewer resources, but have higher life quality standards (health, happiness, etc.) provided proof of concept.
 
Also, real life experience has inspired me; I find it more fulfilling to spend my days working with others to make the world better than simply working a soulless job to buy more stuff. A purpose-filled life provides deeper happiness than a new iPhone or pair of boots.