Advertisement

Greta Thunberg Voices Doubts During Earth Day Discussion With US Congress

Greta Thunberg, the 18-year-old Swedish climate activist, criticized and cast suspicion over politicians as she addressed the US House Oversight Subcommittee on Environment via video call on Earth Day, April 22.

Thunberg had been invited to join a discussion about ending fossil fuel subsidies as part of measures against climate change, and immediately cast doubt over Congress’s willingness to take action.

“I don’t believe for a second that you will actually do this,” Thunberg told the subcommittee. “The climate crisis doesn’t exist in the public debate today. And since it doesn’t really exist, and the general level of awareness is so absurdly low, you will still get away with continuing to contribute to the destruction of present and future living conditions,” she said.

“How long do you honestly believe people in power like you will get away with it?” she asked, before warning them that accountability was “inevitable” and urged political leaders to “save [their] legacies.”

“We, the young people, are the ones who are going to write about you in the history books,” she told them. Credit: Oversight Committee via Storyful