Thunberg was among various stakeholders invited to speak virtually to a U.S. House of Representatives panel during a hearing held on Earth Day, a day on which U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
Here is a full transcript of Thunberg’s comments:
Thank you, and first of all, thank you for inviting me and for holding this hearing. 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. And I’m not even going to explain why we need to make real drastic changes and dramatically lower our emissions in line with overall current best available science. 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