Greta Thunberg puts US Congress to the sword
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg grilled politicians during a US congressional hearing held on Earth Day, with a warning that they couldn’t ‘get away with’ inaction on climate change forever.
The 18-year-old activist appeared before the House Oversight Subcommittee while it held a hearing on fossil fuel subsidies. This came on the same day as President Joe Biden and other world leaders came together for a climate change summit where several countries committed to ambitious emission reduction targets.
Attending the hearing via video call, Ms Thunberg told Congress members, “I don’t represent any financial or political interests. I’m not a lobbyist, so I can’t negotiate, make deals or compromise. I have nothing to offer you, nor am I a scientist.”
“All I can do is urge you to listen to and act on the science and to use your common sense.”
“It is the year 2021. The fact that we are still having this discussion, and even more that we are still subsidising fossil fuels directly or indirectly using taxpayer money, it’s a disgrace,” she continued. “It is clear proof that we have not understood the climate emergency at all.”
Ms Thunberg also commented on the “huge gap” between the best science now available on climate change and current “so-called climate policies”.
“It may seem like we are asking a lot, and you will of course say that we are naive. And that’s fine,” she said.
“But at least we are not so naive that we believe things will be solved through countries and companies making vague, distant, insufficient targets without any real pressure from the media and the general public.”
“What I’m here to say is that, unlike you, my generation will not give up without a fight. And to be honest, I don’t believe for a second that you will actually do this. The climate crisis doesn’t exist in the public debate today.”
"It is the year 2021. The fact we are still having this discussion and, even more, that we are still supporting fossil fuels directly or indirectly using taxpayer money is a disgrace." —@GretaThunberg pic.twitter.com/273JYbDCB1
— Oversight Committee (@OversightDems) April 22, 2021
“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 continued to criticise the politicians up until the conclusion of her statement.
“I know I’m not the one who is supposed to ask the questions here, but there is something I really do wonder. How long do you honestly believe that people in power, like you, will get away with it?” Ms Thunberg said. “How long do you think you can continue to ignore the crisis without being held accountable?”
“You get away with it now, but sooner or later, people are going to realise what you have been doing all this time. That’s inevitable.”
Despite her warning, Ms Thunberg encouraged the Congress members to consider their legacy.
“You still have time to do the right thing and to save your legacies, but that window of time is not going to last for long. What happens then? We, the young people, are the ones who are going to write about you in the history books. We are the ones who get to decide how you will be remembered.”
“So my advice for you is to choose wisely.”
Following her statement, the committee moved to questions and answers. Katie Porter, a Democratic Congresswoman, asked Ms Thunberg for her advice on how she should talk to her daughter about climate change.
“I told my nine-year-old daughter I was going to be speaking with you, and I said, ‘What do you think about climate change?’ And she said, ‘The Earth is on fire, and we’re all going to die soon.’ And I asked how that made you feel, and she said it made her feel ‘angry’,” Ms Porter said.
“What should I tell my daughter, and how should I help her and the youngest generation bear the emotional toll of the actions that we’re taking?”
“That’s a big question,” said Ms Thunberg.
“I know there are many young people who feel angry and sad, because of all the things some people are doing to this planet and to our futures.”
“That’s very understandable. It would be strange if we didn’t feel that way, because then we wouldn’t have any empathy.”
“But of course, there is still much hope. And if we choose to take action, then we can do this. There are unlimited things we can do, and if we choose to work together, there are no limits to what we can accomplish.”
Ms Thunberg advised, “Always the best medication against anger and anxiety is to take action yourself. So that’s what I would tell her, to take action herself, because that will make her feel so much better. That’s what it did to me at least, and so many others.”
Ahead of her appearance at the hearing, Ms Thunberg posted a video on social media captioned as “an emergency alert for the general public”, where she accused world leaders of setting “very insufficient targets”.
“We cannot be satisfied with something just because it’s better than nothing,” she said.
While the hearing was occurring, Mr Biden hosted a summit to address climate change with leaders, including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Several presidents, prime ministers, and monarchs boasted about their own countries’ efforts in negating the effects of climate change, while occasionally committing to new targets.
The US has committed to halve its emissions by 2030.