SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin attends a session at the Congres center during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 21, 2020. (Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
Mocking Call for Fossil Fuel Divestment, 'Foreclosure King' Steve Mnuchin Tells Greta Thunberg to Go Study Economics
"Here's what Mnuchin learned from economics studies: he ran a company that booted elderly residents from their homes due to onerous loans and technicalities."
Jan 22, 2020
During press briefing Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, former Goldman Sachs banker and current U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin dismissed Greta Thunberg's call for complete divestment from fossil fuels and condescendingly told the 17-year-old climate activist to go study economics.
"Is she the chief economist? Who is she? I'm confused," Mnuchin said. "After she goes and studies economics in college, she can come back and explain that to us."
Critics immediately hit back at Mnuchin's suggestion that one need have a degree in economics to understand the severity of the climate emergency and the steps necessary to avert global catastrophe.
"Here's what Mnuchin learned from economics studies: as the 'foreclosure king,' he ran a company that booted elderly residents from their homes due to onerous loans and technicalities," tweeted Miller Center fellow Chris Lu, referring to Mnuchin's destructive tenure as CEO of OneWest Bank.
Author and environmentalist Naomi Klein pointed to the thousands of academics who have echoed Thunberg's call for fossil fuel divestment:
Somebody should tell Mnuchin about the hundreds of Harvard faculty members - and thousands at other universities - who have called for fossil fuel divestment too. https://t.co/t3VhdYvQSE https://t.co/1aaGTUknRZ
-- Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) January 23, 2020
Other critics piled on:
Mnuchin's swipe at Thunberg came after the Swedish activist warned Tuesday in a speech to the World Economic Forum that global elites are "fueling the flames" of the climate crisis "by the hour."
"We demand at this year's World Economic Forum, participants from all companies, banks, institutions, and governments: Immediately halt all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction. Immediately end all fossil fuel subsidies. And immediately and completely divest from fossil fuels," said Thunberg. "We don't want these things done by 2050, 2030, or even 2021. We want this done now."
Anticipating attacks from elites like Mnuchin, Thunberg added: "It may seem like we're asking for a lot. And you will of course say that we are naive. But this is just the very minimum amount of effort that is needed to start the rapid sustainable transition."
"So either you do this or you're going to have to explain to your children why you are giving up on the 1.5-degree target," said Thunberg. "Giving up without even trying. Well I'm here to tell you that, unlike you, my generation will not give up without a fight."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
During press briefing Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, former Goldman Sachs banker and current U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin dismissed Greta Thunberg's call for complete divestment from fossil fuels and condescendingly told the 17-year-old climate activist to go study economics.
"Is she the chief economist? Who is she? I'm confused," Mnuchin said. "After she goes and studies economics in college, she can come back and explain that to us."
Critics immediately hit back at Mnuchin's suggestion that one need have a degree in economics to understand the severity of the climate emergency and the steps necessary to avert global catastrophe.
"Here's what Mnuchin learned from economics studies: as the 'foreclosure king,' he ran a company that booted elderly residents from their homes due to onerous loans and technicalities," tweeted Miller Center fellow Chris Lu, referring to Mnuchin's destructive tenure as CEO of OneWest Bank.
Author and environmentalist Naomi Klein pointed to the thousands of academics who have echoed Thunberg's call for fossil fuel divestment:
Somebody should tell Mnuchin about the hundreds of Harvard faculty members - and thousands at other universities - who have called for fossil fuel divestment too. https://t.co/t3VhdYvQSE https://t.co/1aaGTUknRZ
-- Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) January 23, 2020
Other critics piled on:
Mnuchin's swipe at Thunberg came after the Swedish activist warned Tuesday in a speech to the World Economic Forum that global elites are "fueling the flames" of the climate crisis "by the hour."
"We demand at this year's World Economic Forum, participants from all companies, banks, institutions, and governments: Immediately halt all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction. Immediately end all fossil fuel subsidies. And immediately and completely divest from fossil fuels," said Thunberg. "We don't want these things done by 2050, 2030, or even 2021. We want this done now."
Anticipating attacks from elites like Mnuchin, Thunberg added: "It may seem like we're asking for a lot. And you will of course say that we are naive. But this is just the very minimum amount of effort that is needed to start the rapid sustainable transition."
"So either you do this or you're going to have to explain to your children why you are giving up on the 1.5-degree target," said Thunberg. "Giving up without even trying. Well I'm here to tell you that, unlike you, my generation will not give up without a fight."
During press briefing Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, former Goldman Sachs banker and current U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin dismissed Greta Thunberg's call for complete divestment from fossil fuels and condescendingly told the 17-year-old climate activist to go study economics.
"Is she the chief economist? Who is she? I'm confused," Mnuchin said. "After she goes and studies economics in college, she can come back and explain that to us."
Critics immediately hit back at Mnuchin's suggestion that one need have a degree in economics to understand the severity of the climate emergency and the steps necessary to avert global catastrophe.
"Here's what Mnuchin learned from economics studies: as the 'foreclosure king,' he ran a company that booted elderly residents from their homes due to onerous loans and technicalities," tweeted Miller Center fellow Chris Lu, referring to Mnuchin's destructive tenure as CEO of OneWest Bank.
Author and environmentalist Naomi Klein pointed to the thousands of academics who have echoed Thunberg's call for fossil fuel divestment:
Somebody should tell Mnuchin about the hundreds of Harvard faculty members - and thousands at other universities - who have called for fossil fuel divestment too. https://t.co/t3VhdYvQSE https://t.co/1aaGTUknRZ
-- Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) January 23, 2020
Other critics piled on:
Mnuchin's swipe at Thunberg came after the Swedish activist warned Tuesday in a speech to the World Economic Forum that global elites are "fueling the flames" of the climate crisis "by the hour."
"We demand at this year's World Economic Forum, participants from all companies, banks, institutions, and governments: Immediately halt all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction. Immediately end all fossil fuel subsidies. And immediately and completely divest from fossil fuels," said Thunberg. "We don't want these things done by 2050, 2030, or even 2021. We want this done now."
Anticipating attacks from elites like Mnuchin, Thunberg added: "It may seem like we're asking for a lot. And you will of course say that we are naive. But this is just the very minimum amount of effort that is needed to start the rapid sustainable transition."
"So either you do this or you're going to have to explain to your children why you are giving up on the 1.5-degree target," said Thunberg. "Giving up without even trying. Well I'm here to tell you that, unlike you, my generation will not give up without a fight."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.