"OK, Boomer," Retorts Lawmaker to Heckler During Climate Change Meeting by Washington Post, Adapted by Newsela Staff on 11.20.19 Word Count 738 Level 1190L

"OK, boomer," retorts lawmaker to heckler during climate change meeting By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff on 11.20.19 Word Count 738 Level 1190L

Green Party MPs Marama Davidson, Chlöe Swarbrick (center) and Jan Logie arrive at Ihumātao to meet with those opposed to the proposed Fletcher Building housing development on July 26, 2019, in Auckland. Chlöe Swarbrick recently made news for shutting down a heckler during her speech to Parliament. Photo by: Phil Walter/Getty Images

Just 40 seconds into the 25-year-old lawmaker's speech about the dire importance of stricter climate change policy, a heckler's voice rang through the hearing room.

"In the year 2050, I will be 56 years old; yet, right now, the average age of this 52nd Parliament is 49 years old," said Chlöe Swarbrick, a member of the New Zealand Parliament, emphasizing that the burden of dealing with a climate crisis will fall on her generation and those who come after.

As she spoke, one of her fellow members of Parliament jeered at her age, shouting something indiscernible from his seat. With devastating concision, and like legions of teens on TikTok social media before her, Swarbrick replied without missing a beat. "OK, boomer," she said, and then continued her remarks.

Retort To Baby Boomers

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. The retort is often used by millennials and Generation Z. Globally, it has become a withering reply to condescending comments from older generations, including baby boomers. The generation of baby boomers is defined as those born from 1946 to 1964. The millennial generation was born between the early 1980s and 2000s.

"OK, boomer," a viral phrase online, has also been labeled the latest shot fired in an escalating generation war, where the frontlines are social media comment sections. Relations have frayed over issues like student loan debt and climate change.

The reaction inside the mostly empty hearing room of the New Zealand Parliament Building was muted. Maybe it was because the room was nearly empty, or maybe it was because Swarbrick's casual use of Internet slang didn't hit home with those attending, who, if they were like the average lawmaker, were twice her age.

Later, Swarbrick said some were upset with the interjection during the November 5 speech. However, she said she was simply responding to the heckling lawmaker in the same way and meant no malice.

"Today I have learnt that responding succinctly and in perfect jest to somebody heckling you about your age as you speak about the impact of climate change on your generation with the literal title of their generation makes some people very mad," she wrote on Facebook. "So I guess millennials ruined humor. That, or we just need to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and abstain from avocados. That's the joke." She referred to avocados, which have been blamed as older people have said young people spend too much money going out to eat.

Landmark Legislation

Swarbrick took office in 2017 and is a member of the Green Party, a political party that advocates for social justice and environmentalism. She was speaking in support of landmark legislation that would set a country-wide target of zero carbon emissions by 2050. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.

The bill is "the starting line" for systemic change on the issue, Swarbrick said.

"How many world leaders for how many decades have seen and known what is coming but have decided that it is more politically expedient to keep it behind closed doors?" she said. "My generation and the generations after me do not have that luxury."

The plan, endorsed by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, has faced opposition from farmers and some in the opposition National Party. They say the benchmarks for methane gas reduction would be overly burdensome for the country's large and influential agricultural industry. Methane is another greenhouse gas.

"Agriculture is incredibly important to New Zealand, but it also needs to be part of the solution," said climate change minister James Shaw, when the legislation was introduced in May. Shaw, with Swarbrick, is one of the eight Green Party members in Parliament.

A More Drastic Policy

Swarbrick said her party is interested in a more drastic policy. However, she said, this bill "represents the greatest consensus that we have managed to reach in this Parliament and across

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. this government as a blueprint for climate action."

As she spoke, Parliament TV's closed captioning operated as usual, transcribing the lawmaker's speech. However, the captions couldn't keep up with her quip, quoting her as saying, "OK, Berma."

"The captions on Parliament TV clearly have not yet got the memo on millennial slang," tweeted New Zealand Herald reporter Jason Walls.

The country's official Parliament Twitter account replied with a mea culpa and a pledge. "We apologize for the error, and have updated the captions accordingly. Clearly we need to start doing all-office meme briefings."

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Quiz

1 Read the following paragraph from the introduction [paragraphs 1-3].

Which idea is BEST supported by this paragraph?

(A) Swarbrick is working to slow climate change, as she believes that her generation will have to face the challenges posed by climate change decades later.

(B) Swarbrick is working to slow climate change, and she thinks more people her age should be part of this effort.

(C) Swarbrick is young compared with other parliamentarians, and she feels that the older generation cannot understand the threat of global warming.

(D) Swarbrick is young compared with other parliamentarians, and she feels that the older generation should lead the way and find solutions to global warming.

2 With which answer choice would Chlöe Swarbrick MOST LIKELY agree? Which line from the article supports your answer?

(A) Most people present at the speech did not understand what Swarbrick's famous comment meant;

"Maybe it was because the room was nearly empty, or maybe it was because Swarbrick's casual use of Internet slang didn't hit home with those attending, who, if they were like the average lawmaker, were twice her age."

(B) The older generation should not have taken offense to Swarbrick's comment and instead should have crafted a humorous comeback;

"So I guess millennials ruined humor. That, or we just need to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and abstain from avocados. That's the joke."

"The plan, endorsed by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, has faced opposition from farmers and some in the opposition National Party."

(D) Farmers might have to reform agricultural practices to solve the problem of global warming;

'"Agriculture is incredibly important to New Zealand, but it also needs to be part of the solution,' said Climate Change Minister James Shaw, when the legislation was introduced in May. Shaw, with Swarbrick, is one of the eight Green Party members in Parliament."

3 What is one relationship between the introduction [paragraphs 1-3] and the section "A More Drastic Policy"?

(A) The first gives a description of an event and the second gives reactions to it.

(B) The first details the global warming problem and the second gives a proposed solution.

(D) The first provides a background on Chlöe Swarbrick and the second explains her current work on climate change.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 4 Read the following sentences from the section "Landmark Legislation."

The bill is "the starting line" for systemic change on the issue, Swarbrick said. They say the benchmarks for methane gas reduction would be overly burdensome for the country's large and influential agricultural industry.

Which answer choice BEST describes the relationship between the two sentences?

(A) The first is a main idea and the second is a detail supporting that main idea.

(B) The first is an idea that is contrasted by the second sentence, another idea.

(D) The first states a cause and the second states the effect of that cause.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.