News

Actions

Kentucky governor says teen climate activist 'ill-informed'

Posted at 1:48 PM, Sep 24, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-24 14:48:42-04

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin touted the reliability of fossil fuels and called teen climate activist Greta Thunberg "remarkably ill-informed" during a conference on energy.

Bevin was asked about the 16-year-old Swedish activist after he gave a keynote address at the annual meeting of the Southern States Energy Board in Louisville. Bevin said Thunberg was articulate and "very passionate, and she's remarkably ill-informed," a day after the teen gave an impassioned speech at the United Nations urging action on climate change.

Thunberg told world leaders that "we are in the beginning of a mass extinction ."

Bevin said the U.S. shouldn't rush into replacing fossil fuels like coal and natural gas with renewable energy. He said activists like Thunberg lack historical and global perspective and have grown up in a world where electricity is affordable and on-demand.