In a shocking turn of events, the famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil has been kicked off social media for his climate change tweets from 2016. The rodent-celebrity was caught tweeting “global warming is fake news” and “we don’t need climate action, b’cuz it’s too cold for global warming to be true”, which many climate advocates found offensive.
This is causing a lot of buzz in the climate advocacy community, and some are calling for an end to Groundhog Day as it’s seen as an outdated holiday from a time when the planet’s future was more certain. One climate activist said: “It’s like Punxsutawney Phil is taking us back to the Stone Age with his climate denialism. We can’t keep celebrating Groundhog Day when we have a climate crisis on our hands.”
But some people are defending the famous groundhog, arguing that he’s been misquoted and taken out of context. Fans of Phil have started calling for him to be reinstated on social media, claiming that climate change isn’t a laughing matter and we should focus more on solutions instead of cancelling people (or groundhogs) without giving them a chance to explain themselves.
The verdict is still out on what will happen next, but one thing is certain: Punxsutawney Phil has certainly made an impact on climate discourse in 2023! We’ll just have to wait and see how the animal rights activists weigh on on Phil’s impact on the marmot awareness movement.
In His Shadow: The Punxsutawney Phil Story premieres Tuesday, February 14th on HBO Max.