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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Ian Tucker

Peter Kalmus: ‘As a species, we’re on autopilot, not making the right decisions’

peter kalmus poses for a portrait in an extinction rebellion t-shirt
Peter Kalmus: ‘I desperately want to feel before I die that the future is going to be better.’ Photograph: Michelle Groskopf

Last month a Nasa data scientist, Peter Kalmus, chained himself to the entrance doors of the JP Morgan Chase building in Los Angeles. A video of a short speech he gave about global heating before he was arrested was shared multiple times on social media. In the clip, voice faltering, he told the public: “I’m here because scientists are not being listened to … we are going to lose everything and we are not joking.” He spoke to the Observer in a personal capacity.

What drove you to nonviolent protest?
It’s this mounting feeling that I need to do more. I have a sense of desperation, because of the wide gulf between what the science says society needs to do and how it feels like everything is heading in the opposite direction. World leaders and people not understanding that we’re in an emergency.

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