He's saying you don't have to worry because by the time it gets really bad, it will be someone else's problem. Which is exactly how we got into this mess in the first place.

The reticence of politicians to address climate change is strongly correlated with their age.

Of course there are outliers but it seems clear that "I'm not going to be alive when the shit hits the fan" does a lot to assuage existential anxieties related to climate change.

Blaming the elderly here seems misguided to me.

I suspect the lifestyle of an average 20-year-old today puts much more burden on the environment/climate than the lifestyle of their parents in their twenties.

ADD: The amount of time each spends _talking_ about climate change is a different matter of course.

At least with regard to Americans, your suspicion is incorrect.

American CO2 emissions per capita reached their highest level in the 1970s and declined later:

https://knoema.com/atlas/United-States-of-America/CO2-emissi...

Comparing the behavior of people now to people 20-40 years ago seems dishonest. Many new technologies have prevailed since then, and cultures around consumption have rapidly shifted.

We should consider instead the current consumption habits of both cohorts for an appropriate comparison.

I don't think the climate cares much about our technologies and cohorts. A ton of CO2 is a ton of CO2. Since you claimed I was arguing dishonestly, I withdraw from the discussion.

Different technologies emit CO2 at different rates. Different technologies are prevalent in society at different times. That's my only point.

Didn't mean to make it sound so harsh, "dishonest" wasn't meant to be a reflection of your intention. I chose the wrong word.