Greta Thunberg tells lawmakers it’s ‘time to do the right thing’ on climate

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg called on U.S. lawmakers to “do the right thing” and act now to stem carbon emissions during virtual testimony before the House on Thursday.

During an address to the House Subcommittee on Environment, Thunberg urged politicians to “listen to, and act on, the science” while expressing doubt that U.S. lawmakers would act in time to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

“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,” she said, adding: “I don’t believe for a second that you will actually do this.”

Thunberg added that it was a “disgrace” that U.S. tax dollars were still subsidizing fossil fuel companies while their emissions worsen the effects of climate change.

“It is a clear proof that we have not understood the climate emergency at all,” she said.

Her remarks came as part of the committee’s Earth Day hearing on “The Role of Fossil Fuel Subsidies in Preventing Action on the Climate Crisis,” and comes amid pushes from progressives for the Biden administration to do more to address climate change in his upcoming infrastructure reform package, currently valued at more than $2 trillion.

The package as it stands provides funding for electric vehicles and related infrastructure, but some Democrats have called on the administration to go further with efforts to push the U.S. away from fossil fuels.

In a letter to the White House this week, the governors of a dozen states urged President Biden to commit to enacting regulation that would ban the sale of gas-powered cars in the U.S. by 2035.