Just now, one of the finest tennis players of all time, Roger Federer, was about to play his last match when this young climate activist ran onto the court and lit his arm on fire. Don't worry. He's fine. This is the face of climate narcissism

Apocalyptic environmentalism is a manifestation of exhibitionist narcissism. Adherents, like this young activist, demand to be recognized for their supposedly unique insight into the “climate emergency.” And they demand to be rewarded with cultural, economic, and political power.

In June, two Italian climate activists glued their hands to a Botticelli painting and rolled out a banner that read, “Last Generation No Gas No Coal.” Then, and now, Italians are struggling to pay energy bills due to the lack of natural gas and coal. michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/narcissism-o…

What explains the eruption of such obviously narcissistic behavior? The increasing coddling of children by adults, according to psychologist Jean Twenge. She drew on a large body of survey data across six decades for her book. amazon.com/gp/product/B00…

The rising overprotection and coddling of children by their parents and other adults result in anxious, depressed, and grandiose adolescents and young adults who, in their search for purpose and meaning, imagine that they, as individuals and a generation, will save the world.

In the Greek myth, Narcissus fell in love with his own image, which Italian painter Caravaggio captured in his masterpiece. What’s missing from that picture is the way the narcissist projects his or her own anxiety and depression onto the world.

For example, after a natural gas leak in the Gulf of Mexico caught on fire, California Governor Gavin Newsom pointed to the accident as a symptom of climate change, even though it had nothing to do with warmer ocean temperatures.

Climate narcissists vociferously oppose nat gas & nuclear power, even though they are the main drivers of emissions reductions, and are dead silent about China’s ongoing exploitation of incarcerated Uyghur Muslims to make solar panels. michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/ban-chinese-…

Climate narcissists behave as though the worst energy crisis in 50 years is a mere blip in what they call “the transition to renewables.” In the real world, Europe is de-industrializing. Fertilizer production has declined by 70%, which will result in less food and more hunger.

Europe’s production of steel, aluminum, and zinc has declined by roughly half. And yet the apocalyptic exhibitionists insist, without a trace of doubt, that the crisis affirms the urgency of their demands.

Climate narcissism is a sect of the broader Woke religion, which is also a result of coddling culture, and narcissistic af michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/why-wokeism-…