Renowned teen climate activist Greta Thunberg pulled no punches in her testimony before the House Oversight Committee Sub-Committee on the Environment hearing on “The Role of Fossil Fuel Subsidies in Preventing Action on the Climate Crisis,” today, Earth Day, April 22, 2021.
Sub-Committee Chair Ro Khanna (D-CA) started the hearing by pointing out that the fossil fuel industry subsidies have been “on the books for over a hundred years,” characterizing them as “giveaways to the fossil fuel industry embedded in our tax code.” He is seeking to have them eliminated in the infrastructure bill now moving through Congress.
In the beginning of the hearing, Chairman Khanna pointed out that, “In 2020, the fossil fuel industry spent over $250 million spent in political contributions and federal lobbying. In return,” he added, “the fossil fuel industry received over $30 billion in subsidies in direct pandemic relief in 2020,” but still laid off workers. So, Khanna concluded that none of the relief funding went to workers, and said that Congress does not want taxpayer-funded subsidies going to lobbyists and highly-paid executives.
WASHINGTON, DC – Founder of Fridays For Future Greta Thunberg (L) and co-founder of This Is Zero … [+]
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Thunberg made her position clear from the start, telling the Committee in her opening remarks that, “It is the year 2021. The fact we are still having this discussion, and even more, that we are still subsidizing fossil fuels directly or indirectly using taxpayer money is a disgrace. It is a clear proof that we have not understood the climate emergency at all.”
She was under no illusions about her ability to influence their decision on whether or not to rescind the subsidies, stating that, “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 to urge you to listen to and act on the science and to use your common sense.”
Then, she called the subsidies “a disgrace” and that “if we are to live up to our promises and commitments in the Paris agreements, we have to end fossil fuel subsidies, stop new exploration and extraction, completely divest from fossil fuels and keep the carbon in the ground.”
She made the point that she thinks the only way policies will change is through “real pressure from the media and the general public.”
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – 2021/03/03: Participant seen holding a sign at the protest … [+]
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Closing her opening remarks by reminding them that they “still have time to do the right thing and to save your legacies, but that window of time is not going to last or long,” Thunberg reminded them that it is her generation that will bear the burden and write the history of this era. “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.”
When it came time for questions from Ranking Member Ralph Norman (R-SC), she held her ground with grace and aplomb beyond her years. “I want people to step out of their comfort zone and see the climate crisis not as a distant threat by as something already impacting people today. I want people to step out of their comfort zone and take real action.”
Norman tried to pin Thunberg down on an amount of CO2 that is “acceptable,” but she replied, “There is no magic amount that says ‘this amount is ok. Science doesn’t really work that way.”
Norman also challenged Thunberg on the role of China and India in the climate crisis, but she said “we need to take a holistic perspective,” adding, “How can we expect India to take action when the developed countries that have actually promised to lead the way won’t do that?”
World Resources Institute website on world’s biggest emitters, wri.org
WRI.org, screen shot
She also reiterated that those countries need to “take their responsibility as well,” and turned the table on Congress, saying, what “you can do is take action and try to create a global pressure on China so they will have to take action.”
Thunberg also referred to the U.S. as “the world’s biggest emitter in history.” The World Resources Institute found in December, 2020 that the U.S. China and the European Union are “the top three emitters” of greenhouse gases (GHG) and that the energy sector is the largest industry emitter. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Statistica and other sources say that China is the world’s largest GHG emitter.
