US Treasury Chief Mnuchin Shrugs Off Greta Thunberg - 'Who is She?'
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin took a shot at 17-year-old Greta Thunberg on Thursday, saying she was in no position to give advice on climate change because she hasn’t been to college yet.
At a press briefing at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos, Mnuchin dismissed Thunberg’s suggestion that governments and companies need to cut back dramatically on their use of fossil fuels.
When asked how that would affect the U.S. economic model, Mnuchin responded with a question.
“Is she the chief economist? Who is she? I’m confused,” he said. Then following a brief pause, he said it was “a joke.”
“After she goes and studies economics in college, she can come back and explain that to us,” he concluded.
Thunberg waited a while before responding to Mnuchin’s comments.
In a trio of tweets, Thunberg, who is on a gap year from school until August, said “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.”
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
Without naming Mnuchin in particular, she added that “either you tell us how to achieve this mitigation or explain to future generations and those already affected by the climate emergency why we should abandon our climate commitments.”
So either you tell us how to achieve this mitigation or explain to future generations and those already affected by the climate emergency why we should abandon our climate commitments. 2/3
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 23, 2020
Thunberg will likely face further questions on Mnuchin’s remarks when she holds a press briefing Friday at a climate strike with other young people in Davos, on what is the final day of this year’s gathering of the elites.
Mnuchin confirmed to The Associated Press that he earned a degree in economics from Yale University, before moving on to working for Goldman Sachs and then the Trump administration.
In between, he founded the film production company Dune Entertainment, which in addition to helping out in the relaunch of the “Mad Max” franchise in 2015, has “The Lego Movie” and “Wonder Woman” among its credits.
To her supporters around the world, Thunberg has become a role model, not least for her criticism of U.S. policy, particularly President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the country out of the Paris accord.
Mnuchin insisted Thursday that U.S. policy has been misinterpreted, and that President Donald Trump “absolutely believes” in a clean environment.
“What the president objects to is the Paris agreement, because he thought it was an unfair agreement for the United States,” he said.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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