Trump Treasury Secretary Tells Teen Climate Activist To Get An Education Before Speaking

Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg fired back at President Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, for saying she should not call for countries to divest from fossil fuels until she “goes and studies economics in college.”

“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,” Thunberg tweeted, including a video of a chart illustrating the rise in carbon emissions.

“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,” she added.

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

Mnuchin attacked Thunberg on Thursday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying in a press conference “is she the chief economist? Who is she, I’m confused.”

“After she goes and studies economics in college she can come back and explain that to us,” he added.

Thunberg, while addressing a climate forum in Davos on Tuesday, said world leaders’ inaction on climate issues is “fueling the flames” of climate change.

“You might think we’re naive but if you won’t do it, you must explain to your children why you’ve given up on the Paris agreement goals and knowingly created a climate crisis,” she said.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) defended Thunberg, tweeting “If you don’t have an economics degree like Greta, they’ll mock you for not having one. If you DO have one, as I do, they’ll claim it’s illegitimate.”

If you don’t have an economics degree like Greta, they’ll mock you for not having one.

If you DO have one, as I do, they’ll claim it’s illegitimate.

Haters gonna hate & deniers will deny. They will deny logic, science, and environmental consensus in order to protect oligarchy. https://t.co/6b0S40MQk2

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 23, 2020