Climate activist responds after Steven Mnuchin suggests she should study economics
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| Greta Thunberg has been in Davos to push for immediate, radical change on the climate emergency. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters |
In an attempt to slap down the climate emergency movement, Steven Mnuchin pretended not to know who Thunberg was, before dismissing her concerns as ill-informed.
Asked whether calls for public and private-sector divestment from fossil fuel companies would threaten US growth, Mnuchin jibed: “Is she the chief economist? Who is she, I’m confused” – before clarifying that he was joking.
“After she goes and studies economics in college she can come back and explain that to us,” Mnuchin added, at a press conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Thunberg, 17, responded by tweeting a graph from a UN report showing how the world’s remaining carbon budget will be used up by 2027 unless global emissions are curbed. “My gap year ends in August, but it doesn’t take a college degree in economics to realise that our remaining 1,5° carbon budget and ongoing fossil fuel subsidies and investments don’t add up,” she pointed out.
Mnuchin’s comments expose the huge gulf that still exists between climate activists and the White House. Pressed on the climate emergency, Mnuchin insisted that environmental issues are “clearly complicated”.My gap year ends in August, but it doesn’t take a college degree in economics to realise that our remaining 1,5° carbon budget and ongoing fossil fuel subsidies and investments don’t add up. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/1virpuOyYG— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 23, 2020
He said: “When I was allowed to drive I had a Tesla. I drove in California. I liked it.
“But nobody focuses on how that electricity is made and what happens to the storage and the environmental issues on all these batteries.”
He also claimed the US was showing leadership in tackling emissions – but through its private sector rather than government. President Trump believes in clean air and water, and a clean environment, Mnuchin insisted, but also believes that more attention should be paid to the environmental damage caused by China and India.
'What will you tell your children?': Greta Thunberg blasts climate inaction at Davos.
People who call for divestment should remember there are “significant economic issues, issues with jobs”, he continued. “Many economies are transitioning to more efficient and cleaner energy. That doesn’t have to be all renewables.”
Links
- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Takes Jab at Greta Thunberg at Davos
- 'Who is She?' Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Questions Greta Thunberg's Economic Expertise at Davos
- Trump and the Teenager: A Climate Showdown at Davos
- Trump Mocks Greta Thunberg on Twitter, and She Jabs Back
- Greta Thunberg’s Message at Davos Forum: ‘Our House Is Still on Fire’
- Greta Thunberg’s Remarks at the Davos Economic Forum
- Greta Thunberg Tells Davos Leaders That Planting Trees Isn't Enough As Donald Trump Talks Up Economy
- Trump Blasts 'Prophets Of Doom' In Attack On Climate Activism
- 'How Is This Possible?': Greta Thunberg Weighs In On Australia's Bushfire Crisis
- Governments, Business 'Misleading' On Climate, Teen Activist Greta Thunberg Said
- GretaThunberg: TIME 2019 Person of the Year
- Becoming Greta: ‘Invisible Girl’ to Global Climate Activist, With Bumps Along the Way
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