There is a big green wave coming this way that makes Earth Day look like tired baby boomer nostalgia.

This year, the theme for Earth Day is "Protect our species." I didn't know our species needed protection, I thought we were the problem. But reading further, I see they mean "the millions of species that we know and love, and many more that remain to be discovered." They continue:

The unprecedented global destruction and rapid reduction of plant and wildlife populations are directly linked to causes driven by human activity: climate change, deforestation, habitat loss, trafficking and poaching, unsustainable agriculture, pollution and pesticides to name a few. The impacts are far reaching.

At least they put climate change first on their long list. They wouldn't want to make too big a deal about such a controversial subject. But then the Earth Day Network's lead sponsors are a car manufacturer, a delivery company and an airline, so we can't make too big a deal about CO2 emissions. Their mission statement doesn't even mention it.

@ExtinctionR #ExtinctionRebellion family groups stage a die-in in the main entrance hall of the @NHM_London to highlight the climate&ecological crisis.

“We don’t want to end up like the dinosaurs” pic.twitter.com/gYoOnzfh4U

— Alex Armitage (@alexjarmitage) April 22, 2019

Meanwhile, in London, as I write this, the Natural History Museum is being occupied by what looks like thousands, protest that "we don't want to end up like the dinosaurs." They are part of a movement that isn't just about one day, but is continuing to occupy Marble Arch. It's a movement that isn't sponsored by car companies, but that started when a hundred academics signed a call to action last October. They cited precedents like the suffragettes, Gandhi, and the civil rights movement. They wrote in December:

We must collectively do whatever's necessary non-violently, to persuade politicians and business leaders to relinquish their complacency and denial. Their "business as usual" is no longer an option. Global citizens will no longer put up with this failure of our planetary duty.

Every one of us, especially in the materially privileged world, must commit to accepting the need to live more lightly, consume far less, and to not only uphold human rights but also our stewardship responsibilities to the planet.

By comparison, the Earth Day message "protect our species" is rather narrow. It's not very specific. It doesn't mention that the single most important thing that we have to do is stop climate change, and doing that is hard.

Happy #EarthDay2019, Rebels!

Here’s the latest on all the actions that have been going on all around the world for #InternationalRebellionWeek to #ProtectOurSpecies - and what’s happening tonight at #MarbleArch. Enjoy!https://t.co/F9rbtUsUBV#ExtinctionRebelion pic.twitter.com/SLHj21hHnp

— Extinction Rebellion